Elaine Badour's Diary
by gurjanova
Summary: Elaine is a rich, reckless girl who likes to do things her way. She's going to New York for her sister's wedding, but that wedding means one era of her life is over for her. On the Titanic she meets Harold, and they both change each other's visions of their life. But they only realize that in the sinking moments. Will they ever get a second chance?
1. Chapter 1

It was a rather usual morning at the Badour's manner. Servants were flying everywhere, only this time, they were flying about carrying out packed stuff to the car. It was not so early in the morning anymore, compared to when they all woke up.

"Careful with it, those are fragile!"

Mrs. Elizabeth Badour was a stern woman. She liked order and discipline, but most of all, she loved control.

The servant she's been talking to just nodded her head and picked up the box. Mrs. Badour was standing in the doorway, watching her servants in the front yard pack things up, when suddenly someone collided into her.

"What on earth—Estella?! What are you doing? Why are you carrying your suitcases?!"

They both walked out in to the yard, Estella putting down the bags she was carrying.

"Sorry, mother. Uh, I thought I could help. It's quite a busy morning, they could use a hand, it won't hurt." she shrugged.

"Oh, please," Elizabeth almost rolled her eyes. "We are paying them for their job, they might as well do it. I expected it more from your sister," she looked at Estella from head to toe to check if she was ready. "Speaking of which, have you seen her this morning?"

"No." Estella simply answered.

"Amelia!" Elizabeth started shouting, going back in the house. "Amelia! Amel—Ah, there you are." she spotted her going down the stairs. "Have you been to Elaine's room yet?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And? Is she awake?"

"She was still asleep when I was in her room."

"Then why didn't you wake her up?! Go, wake her up!" Elizabeth waved her off with her hand.

"She won't need to." a voice came down from the top of the stairs.

"Elaine!" Elizabeth was rather surprised and frustrated. "Why are you still in your night gown with your hair down?!"

"Oh, mother, please…" Elaine rolled her eyes. "I'm sure we still have plenty of time."

"Plenty?! It's ten in the morning!" her mother shouted. "We should be leaving in the half an hour. You had better get ready. I hope you're already packed." she gave her a stern look.

"Charlie already picked up my stuff." Elaine responded as she was bored.

"Good." Elizabeth pressed her lips into a thin line. "Well, Amelia, go help her get dressed." She ordered, not letting Elaine out of her sight until her daughter turned to go back in her room.

"This is so boring." Elaine said after Amelia closed the door behind her.

"Aren't you exited, miss? You're going on voyage!" Amelia tried to entertain her.

"Would you be excited if you were going just to find you a suitable husband?" Elaine was not even a slightly amused. "Besides, don't sound so enthusiastic for me. You're going with us. Or with me, at least."

"Yes, ma'am, I'm sorry. I just wanted to make you feel better." She blushed out of shame.

"I know, Amelia, but let's know our places. Shall we?" Elaine raised an eyebrow.

"Yes,", the young servant opened the closet full of fancy dresses. "What would you like to wear today, ma'am?"

Elaine scanned every toilette with her eyes until she stopped at the blue and white dress with a matching blue hat. "This one would be fine." She said, as if she wasn't really trying too hard.

Amelia took it out and placed it on the bed which she previously had made while Elaine was still choosing. She was helping Elaine with her corset when Estella walked in.

"Oh, you're not ready yet." Estella breathed and let her shoulders fall knowing she didn't have to keep her posture now.

Elaine eyed her over her shoulder. "Care to give us a hand?"

"Oh, of course.", She stepped in.

"Can I do your hair now, miss?" Amelia asked.

"Oh, please do." Elaine responded, just wanting to get it over with. "How much do we have, Stel?"

"Around fifteen minutes." She tightened the last knot on Eline's corset. "What are you going to wear?"

Elaine nodded in the direction of her bed.

"You're going to wear _that_?!" Estella raised both of her eyebrows.

"I never wore it." Elaine took offense. "You are wearing that old yellow dress. _Again_. Everyone has already seen you in it."

"I love this dress!" Estella stared at her sister for quite a moment before she made uncertain face. "Should I go change?"

Before Elaine could answer, there was a knock on the door. Elaine took a quick glance at her sister before she focused on the door. "Yes, come in."

The door opened and in the doorway was their brother Philip. "Uh, we would like to go, if you're ready?"

"Yes! Let me just grab my hat." She smiled at him.

"Elaine!" Estella was desperate. "Answer me."

"It's too late now, But you can never go wrong with the good ol' yellow." Eline fixed her hat and winked at her sister.

"Edward! You've made it!" Elizabeth hugged and kissed her soon to be son-in-law.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Edward smiled wide. "Hello, darling." He gave Estella a little peck on the lips. "I wanted to surprise you, but most of all her." He looked over at Estella and pulled her into his side her cheeks turning red.

"Oh, good, this voyage won't be so disastrous after all." Elaine got in the picture and hugged him.

"Elaine!", he was rather pleased to see her again. "Always good to see you. And hear you." They all laughed except her mother. She was slightly uncomfortable because of the comment Elaine has made.

"We're all set," Kenneth, the man of the family, announced. "And five minutes behind, so I suggest we go now."

They all nodded in agreement and headed toward the cars, but Elizabeth called for her daughter, causing her to stop climbing into the car where Edward, Philip and Estella were.

"Elaine, won't you sit with your father and I? I'd like to have a word with you." She kept staring at her, her lips pressed thin.

Elaine wanted to protest, but decided against it. She almost showed her agreement when her father spoke.

"Beth, please, let kids catch up."

"They can catch up on the boat." She protested.

"It's a ship." Kenneth corrected. "You can talk later. Let's start this voyage right." He looked expectantly at her.

Elizabeth breathed out heavily. "Fine." She said shortly, evidently displeased, before seating herself.

"Thank you, dad." Elaine smiled.

"You're welcome, dear. Go on now, I don't want to waste another second." She nodded and climbed in with the rest of the youth.

"What do you think that was about?" Estella asked once they were on the road.

"I don't know, probably about my comment." Elaine rolled her eyes.

"Well, maybe you don't always have to say what you think."

"Yeah, well, maybe." Elaine whispered. "But we all know that's not going to happen."

Edward laughed. "At least she'll keep us entertained."

"Please, don't encourage her." Philip said and we all laughed. "Changing the subject, what are you the most excited about this voyage?"

"Ooh, definitely spending time with Ed, walking down the deck hand in hand… It is so romantic travelling on a ship as a couple." Estella was daydreaming.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy that with mom and dad." Elaine said.

"They're an old couple!" Estella argued.

"Is there a code?" her sister laughed.

"And what are you excited about?" the older one challenged.

"Nothing."

"Oh, c'mon, El, there's got to be something. It's the biggest ship in the world!" Philip said.

"Okay, well then I would say arriving. Getting this over with." Elaine was serious, she hated this subject. She knew what awaited her once they arrived, and she just wanted to be done with it. Getting married to the man she doesn't love, and barely even knows, just to keep the family name, was too much for her.

"You could be at least happy for me. For us." Estella looked at Edward and took his hand.

"You know what that wedding means for me, Estella. I'd be lucky if _they_ find me someone like Edward. Easy to fall in love and want to marry him, like they did with you." Elaine blinked the hidden tears away.

"Yes, I'm sorry." Estella apologized and looked over through the window, while Philip pulled Elaine into his side.

The rest of the ride went more in silence than the small talk Philip was trying to make. Once they arrived at the dock, Philip opened the door, and the two gentlemen stepped out first, to help out the two ladies to do so too.

"Well, what do you think?" Philip asked standing beside his sister. "Now that you've seen her…"

Elaine raised her head to take another look. "It's a ship. Like any other." She shrugged, not being overly interested.

"Oh, my God, Elaine, you can be unimpressed by any other thing, but not the _Titanic_!" Philip argued.

Elaine kept staring at the distance. With that serious look on her face and lips pressed in a thin line she was the spitting image of her mother. Actually, she was a complete younger version of her. They were both aware of that and it wasn't known which one hated it more.

"Hello? Elaine? Did you hear me?" her brother was shouting and waving his hands.

"Oh, stop it, I heard you." She scolded him and looked at the ship again.

"So, you are impressed?" he smirked.

Oh, she was impressed. She was so impressed that she needed another moment to recollect herself. But she wasn't impressed by the ship itself. Just as she was about to tell him what so impressed her, their father interrupted them.

"It's time to get on board. C'mon, kids, you'll have five long days just for talking." Kenneth patted them both on their shoulders. Elaine smiled at him and stepped forward.

Maybe it won't be as quite disastrous as she thought, after all.

**AUTHOR'SNOTE****: **_Hi, guys! Thank you for reading this. I just want to say that English is not my first language and I am well aware there are some mistakes in writing which I hope doesn't make it hard for you to read and that you can easily understand what I wanted to say. Please, leave me your thoughts whether you like it or not and are you interested in more. Much love, M xoxo_


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello! Welcome aboard." An officer helped Elaine and Estella onboard. Elaine forced a smile and nodded as thanks, while Estella verbally thanked him maintaining the conversation.

Elaine slowly walked looking around, admiring the inside of the ship. She thought it was so fancy, it doesn't even give you a feeling like you're on a ship.

"Let me escort you to your room, miss." A steward offered his help, which Elaine gladly accepted. She smiled and followed him.

"Here you are." He opened the door and let Elaine walk in. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Elaine looked around the room. "No, that would be all." She turned to face him. "Thank you."

"Your stuff will be arriving shortly." He said before leaving. Elaine nodded her head, not caring that much.

She put the purse she was carrying as well as her hat onto the table.

"It is _so_ not fair!" Estella protested behind her.

"What is it, sister?" she said, taking off her gloves.

"Your room is so much nicer. And bigger. I am the bride here!"

"Don't people in love say that anywhere is nice as long as they're together?" Elaine furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh, well, yes…" Estella said, displeased that her sister made a good point. "At least I'm not sharing my room with mom and dad." She said, walking out.

"What?!" Elaine shouted after her. "Estella, wait!" She quickly grabbed her hat and went after her.

"It's the parlour suite, Elaine. It has two bedrooms. Edward, Philip and I are on the port side." Estella said once her younger sister caught up with her.

"Now this is not fair! Shouldn't you spend time with mom and dad, see the married life?" Elaine joked.

"Oh, please, we've seen plenty of that. And besides, isn't that gross, what you're suggesting?" Estella made a disgusted face.

After giving it some thought, Elaine said "Yes, I'm sorry. I won't be joking about it anymore."

"Apology accepted. Care to go for a walk with me?" Estella asked once they reached the stairs that were leading to the boat deck.

"Well, of course." Elaine smiled widely.

Once they were on the deck, a strong wind hit them.

"Oh my, when did it become so windy?" Estella said, holding onto her hat.

"Didn't you want to go for walks with Edward? It's so romantic!" Elaine chuckled and imitated her sister.

"Yes, but in the sunset. _That_ is romantic." Estella looked at the distance, probably imagining the scene.

"You're hopeless." Elaine waved her off.

"Enough about me. What do you make of this?" They stopped at the railing and looked around.

"Eh, it's nice. Can't complain yet." Elaine laughed and looked at something behind her sister.

"Impossible!" Her sister shouted looking surprisingly at her.

"Give me a few more minutes, I'm sure I'll find something." Elaine glanced at her sister to answer her, but quickly looked behind her again.

"Okay, what are you staring at?" Estella asked, annoyed.

"Come, walk with me." Elaine moved away from the railing and started walking down the deck again.

"Elaine," her big sister called suspiciously after her. "What are you after?" She asked when she finally caught up.

Suddenly, Elaine lowered her hand, letting go of the hat she was holding because of the breeze. It didn't take much for another strong gust of wind blow to blow off Elaine's hat.

"Oh, my God, Elaine, your hat!" Estella screamed like it was the end of the world.

Elaine wanted to roll her eyes, but was too busy following the situation she purposely caused with her hungry eyes. The hat was dancing in the wind, threatening to fly away overboard, but just as she was hoping for, it didn't. Instead, it flew in the direction of where the group of officers were standing and it lightly hit one of them before falling on the ground. Elaine breathed heavily in and out more than satisfied and hurried towards them.

The officer turned around to look what happened. He believed that someone tapped him on the shoulder, and was surprised when he saw no one behind him, but a hat down his feet. He bent down to pick it up, looking for a lady who seemed to lose it once he straightened up. Right in that moment, Elaine approached him.

"I believe this is yours, miss?" He handed it to her.

"Yes, thank you." She took her time fixing it back on her head. "It's pretty windy today, I should've been more careful. You're a life saver."

"Always happy to help a lady in trouble." He smiled.

Elaine laughed. "It would be a shame, really, if it went overboard. It is new, I never wore it before. Saved it for this special occasion." She smiled, although it was a white lie. Right now, she was regretting not making a better effort to dress herself.

"Well then I would have to make a jump for it, wouldn't I?" he smirked, looking daringly into her eyes.

Before she could answer her sister roughly grabbed her arm. "Are you out of your mind?!" she screamed almost into her ear.

Elaine winced back from the sudden reaction from her sister, but before she could say anything, another officer got in the picture.

"Ah, miss Badour, we meet again." He smiled expectantly at her.

"Again?" Now it was Elaine's turn to look at her sister. "Care to introduce me to your officer friends?" She raised her eyebrows.

Estella let go off her sister's arm, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "This is officer Charles Lightoller. You should remember him, he helped us board. And this young man, I don't know." She looked at the other officer.

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself. Officer Harold Lowe at your service, miss…" he offered his hand to Elaine.

"Elaine Badour." She chuckled and gave him her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, miss Badour." He kissed her hand, not leaving her eyes for a single moment.

She cleared her throat, uncomfortable now that her sister was there. "And this is my sister, Estella. But some of you already know that." She said the last sentence under her breath.

"Please, keep your comments to yourself." Estella hissed for only Elaine to hear before introducing herself to Harold. "Well now, we should get going. Don't want to keep you from your duties." She chuckled before tugging Elaine after her.

"Good day, ladies!" Lightoller said before they were out of sight.

Harold was leaning on the railing, looking longingly after the sisters, when Lightoller turned to face him again.

"Don't even think about it." He warned.

"What?" Harold was confused.

"Oh, please, you were all over her."

"I wasn't intending to—"

"No, I know that look. Stay away from her." Charles warned once again.

"Like you're any better. You're already all friendly with her sister." It was Harold's turn now.

"She is engaged, I was just being polite." Charles stated.

"And how come I wasn't just being polite?" Harold was offended.

"Because I know you. Listen, I am tired of covering for your little flings. You know the policy, might as well comply by it, for once. This is important, it might cost us everything. Be careful, eh? You are just a fifth officer." Lightoller patted him on the shoulder before walking away.

Harold stood there alone for a couple moments, thinking about what Charles told him. It wasn't like he was going to fall in love with her. One tiny adventure won't hurt anyone.

Or so he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

"What was that?" Estella asked, walking behind her sister.

"What was what?" Elaine responded, playing dumb.

"Don't play dumb with me. You were flirting with the officer!" the older one hissed, quickly checking if someone heard them right after.

"He saved my hat. I was just thanking him."

"He saved your—You basically threw it off your head!" Estella shouted raising her arms in frustration.

"Shall we go get ready for lunch, eh, sister?" Elaine stopped and turned to face her sister, smiling only with her lips.

"Don't change the topic!"

"I'll see you at the table," The young one said before shutting the door in her sister's face. Estella wanted to yell and bang against the door, but decided against it and just sighed before leaving.

In Elaine's room was Amelia who was furling clothes in the closet.

"Leave that, help me change into something more comfortable for lunch," Elaine said, taking off her gloves.

"Of course, miss. Do you have something in particular on mind?" Amelia asked as she quickly stood up.

"Yes, give me that white and purple afternoon dress," She hummed, letting her hair down. Amelia nodded and pulled it out of the closet and they quickly put it on.

"What about your hair, miss?" the young servant asked once they were finished.

"I'll just pull it back. Thanks, Amelia. You can do…whatever you've been doing," Elaine answered, waving her off. Amelia did a little curtsy and turned away, finding her spot before she was told to help. Elaine was in front of the desk mirror, fixing her hair to her liking when someone knocked on the door.

"Would you get that, Amelia?" she looked at her in the mirror. The servant quickly stood up and went to the door and Elaine's attention was back on herself. "Who is it, Amelia?"

"It is your brother, miss."

"Let him in," Elaine sighed, looking up in the direction of the door and smiled when her brother walked in. "What's up?"

"Eh, nothing much. Are you ready? I came to escort you to lunch," Philip said, standing in the middle of the room.

"Did Estella send you?" came the reply. Her brother blinked once before Elaine mentally rolled her eyes taking one last glance in the mirror.

"Estella? No," her brother frowned. "I haven't seen her since we boarded,"

"Good!" Elaine said smiling and standing up. "We shall go,"

She extended her arm to link it with Philip's.

When they arrived in the dining room, Elaine saw a few unfamiliar faces seated at the table along side with her family. She straightened her posture and put on serious face. Estella and Edward had already been there.

"Ah, here they are!" Kenneth said once he saw them and Elizabeth smiled with her lips. "Allow me to introduce Bruce Ismay and Thomas Andrews who will be joining us for lunch today,"

"Pleasure to meet you," Andrews extended his arm to Philip.

"Likewise," Philip shook his hand and Andrews politely smiled at Elaine, to which she had soon returned.

It was Ismay's turn to introduce himself, addressing them with gentleman before shaking hands with Philip and lady before kissing Elaine's hand. She wanted to roll her eyes, thinking how hypocritical he could be, but she couldn't so she forced a smile instead. Ismay offered to help Elaine take her seat, but Philip politely waved him off seeing how uncomfortable Elaine was by his imposed presence and helped her instead. She was seated between her mother and sister, both glancing at her once she sat down, each for their own reason. Before anyone could say anything more, the waiters brought the food out.

Elaine was silent most of the time, letting her mother and father do the talking with Philip, Estella and Edward adding something now and then. Elizabeth was bragging about the wedding and how big and glamorous it is going to be while Kenneth was talking about extending his car company.

"We hope to find a suitable husband for Elaine after the wedding. Maybe even someone from the guest list. Got any cousins to recommend, Edward?" Elizabeth suddenly said and Elaine almost chocked on her meat.

"Uh…" Edward was astonished.

Estella gave him a _don't answer that_ look and patted Elaine on her back.

"It's okay, drink some water," She ordered, handing her a glass.

Elaine took a sip, stood up and muttered an "Excuse me," under her breath before walking out. She walked out on the boat deck towards the head of the ship and leaned over the railway. She closed her eyes and breathed heavily. She was furious.

"Miss? Miss? Are you alright?" someone patted her on the arm. She touched her head and turned to face whoever was speaking to her. "Yes, yes, I'm—Oh, it's you again,"

He laughed. "What a coincidence, we meet again. Though, I wouldn't expect it since were on the ship,"

Elaine stared at him for a while before bursting out laughing. "Oh, you're joking!"

"'Course, ma'am," Harold said, smiling.

They just stared at each other until Elaine's laughter died down. Just when she wanted to say something Philip came rushing in since he saw her speaking with an unfimiliar man.

"Elaine, we have to go. Are you alright?" he eyed her.

"Yes! Mr. Lowe here took care of me," She flirtatiously looked at Harold.

Harold fixed his posture and put on a serious face feeling slightly uncomfortable and also threatened by another man not knowing who he was to Elaine.

"I didn't do much, sir. Just checked if the miss was alright," He said in a serious tone which intrigued Elaine even more.

"I see," Philip said, eyeing Harold up and down suspiciously and putting protectively an arm around his sister. "Come on, let's go,"

Elaine was looking at Harold who seemed to not pay attention to her anymore until she lost the sight of him.

"Looks like you could have got yourself in trouble," A voice behind Harold said.

"Are you following me?" Harold turned, annoyed, to face Lightoller.

Lightoller stopped as if to give it a thought. "I wasn't intending to, but now it seems like I should. Besides, you weren't on your rounds and now I see why you were distracted,"

"It was lady in trouble—"

"It's always her, isn't it?"

Harold stayed quiet. "Well, seems like she won't need my assistance anymore since her man is here."

"Her man?" Lightoller narrowed his eyebrows.

"Yes, don't act dumb, I know you saw him," Harold rolled his eyes.

Charles, in fact, did saw Philip. And he knew he was her brother. He wanted to joke about it with Harold but decided against it. On second thought, it's better the way Harold think it is.

"Anyway, I should get back. My rounds are almost finished. Better use them wisely, eh?" he patted Charles on the back of his shoulder before passing him.

Charles Lightoller was left looking astonished in the distance.

"Ugh, you were such a dick." Elaine was annoyed.

"Language, lady!" Philip warned.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know what is wrong with you. I was chatting with an officer," She protested.

"A male officer." Her brother corrected.

"So what?" she raised her arms in frustration.

"A young lady like you should not wander around and flirt with officers."

"I was not—" Elaine wanted to snap, but Philip cut her off.

"Shh, here we are," he said stopping in front of her room. "I wish you a good day and to take some rest and I'll see you at dinner time when I'll also come to pick you up."

Elaine crossed her arms on her chest and pursed her lips refusing to meet his gaze. Philip sighed and put each of his hands on her upper arms pulling her in and kissing her forehead.

"You know I love you and only wish what's best for you," He murmured against her skin.

"I know," Elaine breathed and leaned against his chin. "I love you, too,"

What Elaine didn't say because she didn't want to start a fight with her brother in the middle of the hallway was that what if he didn't know what was the best for her? What if any of them didn't know what was the best for her? Hell, she didn't even know what that was, but talking to Harold felt right.

It felt freeing.


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost dinner time and Elaine was in her room getting ready with the help of Amelia. She has chosen the silver evening gown with the black lace over the top and tail of skirt. Amelia just finished doing Elaine's hair and she was ready to go. She stood up and grabbed her purse, which Amelia previously prepared, and headed for the door. When she opened the door there was Philip with his hand lifted up as if he was about to knock.

"Oh, you're ready," He said, lifting his eyebrows.

"I'm ready," Elaine said, annoyed.

"Then we shall go," Philip offered his arm and Elaine slid hers under.

The dinning room now was crowded. They were walking slow towards the table. To Elaine's not pleasant surprise there were new faces at their table again. Only this time quite familiar.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Elaine murmured, annoyed.

"What?" Philip asked.

"Are that Caison's at our table?"

"Uh, looks like it." He fixed his posture.

"Oh my God, they didn't board with us in Southampton, did they?"

"No, we picked them up at Cherbourg."

"Well, yes, obviously. I'm sure they would've also lunched with us if they did," Elaine rolled her eyes and they stopped at the corner to wait for Edward and Estella.

"Look who just arrived." Philip nodded his head towards the table.

"William. Fashionably late, as always." Elaine looked at Philip. "If I'm unlucky enough that's gonna be my 'suitable husband'," She joked.

Philip smirked. "Now, don't be like that," He looked sympathetically at his sister.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot who I was talking to. You, who will get to pick any girl you want. Well, not just any, but anyway you are going to get a girl like me who will marry you just because she _has to_ not because she _wants_ _to_ and that's even worse!" Elaine was staring and shouting at her brother.

Once she calmed down, she looked around to see that they drew attention of a couple of people who were probably whispering about them now. And before Philip could answer something, Edward and Estella joined them.

Noticing the awkward silence Estella said "Have we missed something?" she looked suspiciously from one sibling to another.

"No! No," Philip was quick to give an answer, stopping Elaine from her witty comments which would make the situation even worse. "We were just having a conversation," He gave her a look which she refused to meet. "A heated one actually,"

"Well, okay, if everything is fine, we shall go. I bet mom and dad are going nuts that we're not there yet," Estella made a crazy face and headed straight with Edward.

Philip offered his arm again for Elaine to take. She seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"C'mon, I know you're currently mad at me, but for the image of us," He murmured.

Elaine sighed and took his arm. "Everything we do is for our image," And they headed off.

"Smile on your face," He reminded her as they approached the table.

"I'm not stupid, Philip. I know how to maintain our happy, successful family image," She wanted to roll her eyes, but couldn't so she faked a big smile.

"Ah, here comes our children!" Kenneth greeted them. "What took you so long?"

"Good evening ladies. And gentlemen," Philip verbally greeted them and Elaine flashed a smile. He helped her sit between their mother and sister.

"Elaine, I hope you remember Brandon and Charlotte Caison and their son William. You used to play with him in the garden when they visited," Kenneth was quick to freshen her memory. Of course he was quick to remind Elaine. Caison's weighted a fortune and are a good catch. Elaine looked at everyone of them with a small smile on her face, her mother praying under her breath that she doesn't say something witty.

"I remember. Though, William grew up and changed a lot. I wouldn't say he's the same boy he used to be," She flashed a smile. Elizabeth let a breath of relief, hoping that Elaine meant well.

"Back at ya, Elaine," William flashed her a smile and she wasn't sure if he winked at her also so she quickly looked away, her attention on two familiar faces approaching the table that she met earlier today.

"Good, you haven't started without us. Captain will be joining us soon. He just needs to have a quick word with his officers," Ismay declared before sitting down.

Elaine smiled at Thomas Andrews and he nodded to her. She felt sympathy for that man, unlike for that other gentleman. Kenneth then introduced the two gentlemen to the Caison's and the captain arrived soon after, apologizing.

Soon after the food arrived the men started talking about the business and politics. Elaine felt quite bored and wanted to leave. Actually, she was chatting with Charlotte now and then. Mrs. Caison praised how she grew up into a beautiful young woman. Then her mother jumped in talking about the wedding and finding a husband for Elaine. That was like an indirect propose for Caison's to know that Elaine is available and in that moment, she stopped listening to them.

She was sipping on her drink, waiting for the time to pass by.

"Gentlemen," Bruce Ismay was the first one to stand up "Who would like to join me in the smoking room?"

"Ah, I shouldn't," captain said. "I wish you a good the rest of the evening." And then he left.

"Do you want me to walk you to your room?" Philip whispered into Elaine's ear.

"No, I'll stay here," She waved him off. He nodded and kissed her cheek.

The only man who was left was William. Leaning his arms against the chair, he looked piercingly at Elaine. She wanted to spat _what?!_ at him but that wouldn't be lady like so she kept staring blankly at him.

"Would you like _me_ to walk you?" William raised his eyebrows.

"Actually," Elaine thought about it, "I would like to go for a walk instead." She said knowing that her mother would approve very much of that answer.

"Your wish is my command," He smirked and approached her, offering his hand to help her stand up.

"I won't be long," She said to her mother.

"Take as long as you need, dear," Elizabeth smiled at her daughter.

Elaine wished a good night to the rest of them and headed out onto the boat deck with William. They were walking just beside each other, no linking arms.

"It's a lovely evening," Elaine said looking at the sky.

"A bit chilly, though," William shivered. "Are you cold? You can take my coat."

"No, no need—"

"I insist," As he was putting it on her, Harold was passing by.

Elaine, of course, immediately saw him, but he seemed to rush past them without even noticing her. She frowned, not being satisfied with a sudden change of behavior.

"Uh, Elaine?"

"What?!" she blinked at him.

"Shall we continue?" he slightly raised his eyebrows.

Elaine took another moment to realize that they were just standing there doing nothing.

"Yes, yes! Of course, I'm sorry," She shook her head. "Let's go this way," She pointed in the direction where Harold went.

Elaine didn't realized that she was fast walking, but that always happened when she saw Harold. And now she wanted to see what was so important that he didn't notice her. William was talking, of course, but she wasn't listening. He even made a joke about her being a fast walker, but she didn't care. They reached the area where she could see the bridge, not that William cared what he saw other than her, and they stopped.

"Good thing that you stopped. I need to catch my breath," William laughed at his own joke.

Elaine cracked a smile not to blow him off completely, but kept staring up. She saw Harold talking to another officer, like he was explaining something to him. The other officer nodded in understatement and stood beside him. Harold then looked down as if something caught his attention. Elaine held her breath. It was her. He was looking at her. She smiled and he nodded his head, touching his hat.

Elaine was glowing. But her glow wasn't long lasting when he said something to that other officer again and left the bridge. It made Elaine to pout and wonder.

"I want you to walk me to my room. I'm tired," She said to William.

"But—", she didn't let him finish but started walking back.

Although it didn't go how she imagined it, she was satisfied enough that she managed to grab his attention in the end. Now she could fall asleep knowing that her first day was a success.


	5. Chapter 5

On the second day, Badour's had family breakfast on their private promenade. Elaine enjoyed it for a change because it was only them.

"I arranged a tour today afternoon with Mr. Andrews," Elizabeth declared.

"That's wonderful, dear." Kenneth smiled at her.

"Caison's are going to join us as well," Elizabeth looked piercingly at Elaine.

"Looking forward to it," her daughter smiled wide only with her lips, but the smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"Good, good," Kenneth said in between tapping his mouth with a napkin. "If you'll excuse me, I must leave now. I am meeting Brandon—something about our companies," He wanted to explain, but there were mainly women and what did they know or needed to know, right? "Philip. Will you accompany me, please?"

"Yes, sir," He immediately stood up. Kenneth kissed Elizabeth on the head and they left.

Everyone felt pressure in this family. Starting from Kenneth, he had to save the company. Business was going a little rough, but nothing a good investor can't solve. Also, when the time comes, Philip will take over and he wants to leave him with a stable firm. And that's the pressure on Philip's part. Father has no doubt he'll leave the firm in the good hands and he's even letting Philip design a car of his own.

As much as the wedding is stressful, Estella had other things to worry about. Once she's married, she'll feel pressure from everyone to have kids. One problem pulls another. And although she always obeys the rules and find nothing hard, just this once she would like to have some rest and do things her way.

And there are Elaine and her mother. From Elizabeth is expected to lead each child on to the right path, but with Elaine she feels like she's failing miserably. And from Elaine is expected a lot of things. Not just to marry, but to start acting like a proper lady at once. There was a time when they tried to scare her saying that no one will want her if she kept behaving this way. Of course, that didn't shake her one bit. In fact, they even encouraged her.

Going back to her room, Elaine barged in. "Amelia! Amelia! Where is this girl when I need her?"

"Yes, ma'am?" she ran in from the other room.

"What were you doing out there?"

"Clea—"

"Never mind!" Elaine waved. "We have this stupid tour in the afternoon, I want you to pull me out the finest dress I have. Make it quick!" Elaine clapped.

Amelia nodded and got on to it. After a while she pulled out a silky white dress with black details.

"Will this work?" she showed it to Elaine.

"Yes! Yes! Perfect!" Elaine felt overjoyed. "Okay, we are going an hour after lunch so you are free now. Get back on what you were doing," She replied and soon dismissed her.

After lunch Elaine rushed back to her room. She was excited to see Harold. At least, she was hoping to see him. There was a high possibility that they'll meet.

"Hurry, Amelia, everything needs to be perfectly set in place," Elaine said and loudly shut the door. "Where is my dress? You didn't wrinkle it, did you?" she gave her a look.

"No, miss. It's been hanging here since you chose it."

"Okay, good. Come, help me untie this one,"

The two girls worked hard and fast. After getting dressed, Amelia did Elaine's hair by her liking. It was rare that Elaine let anyone choose for herself, but now she let Amelia do what she thought was the best. After Amelia was finished, she stepped back, letting Elaine do her minimum makeup.

"I haven't seen you this excited for a long time, miss," Amelia watched Elaine with joy.

"Oh, Amelia, you don't even know!" the young girl shouted and sighed. "How do I look?" she turned in her chair and stood up.

"Perfect as always, miss," The servant smiled. Elaine smiled back and grabbed her purse and gloves and went to meet with her family on the boat deck.

When Elaine reached the boat deck it was only her mother waiting there. She started suspiciously walking towards her.

"Mother? Where is everyone?" she frowned.

"Oh, your father and Philip went back to business. Between you and me, I think he's going to convince Caison to invest in us. You might as well help," Elizabeth eyed her daughter and Elaine knew exactly what her mother meant. "Estella and Edward should be arriving shortly." She said as if nothing was mentioned before.

Elaine pressed her lips in a thin line and didn't say anything. As in that moment, William arrived with his mother Charlotte in arm. Charlotte and Elizabeth greeted each other as if they didn't see each other at lunch an hour ago which made Elaine to turn the other way and roll her eyes.

"Oh, I was going to apologize for Brandon being absent, but seeing that Kenneth's not here either I might get the idea why," Charlotte giggled.

"Sorry we're late! Edward took forever to get ready," Estella came running down.

"Nonsense, dear," Edward touched her nose and she giggled.

"Shall we go? If we're all here," Charlotte asked.

"I think we should wait for Mr. Andrews to come pick us up—Oh, here he comes," Elizabeth pointed out.

"Shall I walk with you?" William offered his arm to Elaine.

"I don't want your mother to be mad at me," She tried politely to decline.

"Don't be silly, dear," Charlotte cut in. "I'll walk with Elizabeth, no problem,"

Elaine smiled nervously and nodded, linking her arm with William's. So far, the tour for Elaine was boring. William wasn't of any help by trying to make a joke or play smart. It only made her roll her eyes. It was so until they reached the bridge and Elaine was looking for a familiar face. And it wasn't so until she saw one. Capitan Smith's.

"Ah, Badour's. And Caison's. Lovely seeing you again. I hope everything's alright?" he politely greeted them all.

"Of course, thank you. Mr. Andrews here is giving us a tour. This is our next stop." Elizabeth was having the main word.

"Sir!" an officer who Elaine saw speak with Harold last night walked to the Capitan holding a paper in his hand.

"Ah, good, good. Feel free to ask any quest—"

"Sir!"

"What is it now, Mr. Moody?"

"Another ice warning, sir!" he handed him the paper.

Captain Smith took the paper from him and studied it for a while. She looked at the group before him trying to act normal as possible. "Oh, nothing to worry about. Pretty normal for this time of the year," He said when he saw Charlotte's look on her face. "In fact, we're speeding up. Mr. Moody, you're on rounds now, right?"

"That is correct, sir!"

"And Mr. Lowe?" Elaine could feel her heart skip a beat on mentioning Harold's name.

"He was just released off his rounds, sir,"

"Is he still on the bridge?"

"He should be, he never goes straight to his quarters. Want me to go look for him?"

"Yes, do so," Capitan waved off. They lingered around for a while because Elizabeth was asking some ridiculous, to Elaine, questions when Harold appeared.

"You wanted to see me, Capitan?"

"Ah, yes, Mr. Lowe. I know you're off your duty for now, but I have a little favor to ask,"

"Go ahead, sir,"

"Please, help Mr. Andrews lead the tour. And it could be a great practice as an officer. Don't worry, you can take an extra hour later to rest if you need to," He patted his back and wandered off.

Harold's face went blank and white when his eyes met with Elaine's. To make it even worse, she was standing with William, arm in arm.

"Wh-Where is the next stop, Mr. Andrews?" he tried not to look at her anymore.

"The gymnasium. Lead the way, Mr. Lowe," Mr. Andrews smiled and nodded.

"Right," Harold said under his breath. "Right, ladies and _gentlemen_," he piercingly looked at Willian and Elaine tried to sustain a giggle. "Right this way!" he quickly turned and led the way while closing his eyes and cursing himself.

Elaine let go of William's arm and hurried to be closer to Harold although he didn't seem to notice, but who did seem to notice was her mother. She was watching them like a hawk. When they entered the gymnasium all of the ladies were interested in the equipment and what Thomas Andrews was saying with Harold adding something now and then. What interested them the most was when he said they were free to try any of the equipment and Elaine, of course, got right on to it.

"Mind giving me a hand, officer?" of course she was just seeking an opportunity to spend time with Harold.

"I got you, Elaine," William got in the picture, helping her get on the bike.

"Looks like you've got everything covered," Harold said stepping back.

Elaine wanted to scream. Suddenly, she didn't feel so interested in the equipment anymore. William wandered off listening to something else Mr. Andrews was speaking. She 'exercised' for a couple of seconds when her gaze met Harold's. He quickly looked away as if nothing happened which made her even more mad.

"Okay, next stop, the engine room!" Mr. Andrews declared and they all left the room leaving Elaine and Harold alone.

"I think that's enough exercising for you today, miss," Harold said in a serious tone.

Elaine raised an eyebrow at him.

"Although, looks like you'll have to spend the rest of the day here since your little gentleman forgot about leaving you up there,"

"Don't you mind helping me?" Elaine finally spoke up and she sounded offended.

"Certainly not," He said offering her his hand.

"Always happy to help a lady in trouble, you said yourself," She smirked.

"Yes, _a lady,_" He pulled her down a little harder than they both expected.

Elaine could feel his heavy breathing and heart beating and his breath on her face. They looked intensely into each other eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" she finally said after recollecting herself and breaking the silence. "Why are you being so rude?!" she asked again when he didn't say anything.

"We should get going. We're falling behind," He said stepping away from her and heading for the door. He opened them and waited for her. "After you, miss,"

She pursed her lips hesitating for a while before rushing past him. She rushed out going down the boat deck, Harold hurrying behind her.

"At least you're going the right way," He commented.

"I would've managed," She shot back.

He smirked, but didn't say anything. They finally rejoined the group. Elizabeth eyed them both suspiciously when they entered, and Estella wiggled her eyebrows at Elaine which made her to roll her eyes.

"Ah, maybe Mr. Lowe can tell us something more." Mr. Andrews said when he spotted Harold.

"I'll try. What's this about?"

Elaine didn't want to listen about the stupid engines. She wanted to leave. For the rest of the tour she and Harold didn't speak. In fact, they were trying to avoid each other. Back on the boat deck they we're all saying their goodbyes as if they're not going to see each other at dinner.

"Mr. Lowe, you were of a great help today," Elizabeth said and Elaine looked at her _as if she knows_ look. "Why don't you join us for dinner tonight? As a thank you," This one Elaine did not see coming.

She looked at her mother with her mouth wide open. Elizabeth surely did notice her daughter's reaction, but did not let herself get shaken by it and continued to keep staring at Harold with a small wicked smile on her face.

"That's very generous of you. Yes, I'd be delighted," He nodded his head.

"Then it's settled!" Elizabeth looked at no one in particular with amusement. "We'll see you then, Mr. Lowe,"

Harold touched his hat before they all left to get prepared for the dinner of a life time.


	6. Chapter 6

Elaine got back to her room furious. She slammed the door shut and leaned against them trying to catch her breath.

"Miss, are you alright?" coming out from another room, Amelia saw her.

"My mother…" she put a hand on her chest breathing heavily. "She's playing games."

"Miss, please sit down. I'll help you." Amelia led her to the bed and sat her down. "Please, drink some water." She poured her a glass.

"Thank you." Elaine greedily drank it. "We'll just have to beat her to it." She was staring blankly ahead.

"We?" the young servant furrowed her eyebrows.

"Yes, Amelia, we. Didn't you listen to anything I was saying?!" she suddenly rose up into Amelia's face and the poor girl winced back.

"I'm sorry, miss, I don't under—"

"My mother invited Harold to dinner," she began explaining while pacing around the room.

"And that's a bad thing?" the servant asked, uncertain.

"It's a terrible thing!" Elaine turned to face her. "You know, he was all sweet when I first met him, but oh my, are looks deceiving! He's rude and arrogant and…" she couldn't think of any more words to describe him.

"And you like him." Amelia said proudly and fixed her posture.

"I beg your pardon?" Elaine looked at her in shock. "Amelia, we are not friends for you to make such an assumption." She warned. "You are my servant. Now give me my best night gown. Don't just stand there like a statue, quickly!"

Amelia just nodded and rushed to the closet.

Elaine was standing near the dining area where people were dancing. She watched them trying not to lean on the wooden pillar beside her (because that's not lady like!). When she and Amelia finished putting her in the silk gown with golden details and doing her hair up, she left as quickly as possible not to meet her brother or, God forbid, William, who would've tried to escort her to dinner. She felt tired and bored, waiting for a familiar face to show up, that she touched the pillar with her shoulder when someone tapped her on the other. She winced and quickly turned around.

"Edward?!" she breathed. "You scared me."

"Oh, sorry about that." He apologized. "Have you seen your sister?"

"No, shouldn't she be with you?" she frowned in wonder.

"Yeah, well, she isn't. Never mind, we probably missed each other. I'll go look for her." He faked a smile as to reassure her.

Elaine looked after him now completely leaning on the pillar but didn't care. It wasn't like Estella to wander off like that. At least, not without saying anything to anyone.

"James, open up, please!" Harold was banging on the officer Moody's door.

"What is it now, Harold?" James stood bored in the doorway.

"I've got a favour to ask." Harold made a pleading face.

"I see. You're already in your formal uniform." James leaned on the door frame and crossed his arms, looking him up and down. "No. Absolutely not." he said once he looked him in the eyes again.

"Oh, c'mon, you don't even know what it is!" Harold pressed.

"It can only be one thing with you." the other boy shrugged.

"James, Badour's invited me to dinner tonight. I can not miss it." Harold tried to make the situation more serious than it was.

"I already worked half your rounds, Harold!" James protested.

"Bollocks! I came back just in time."

"I'm not doing it!"

"Listen, if I go to the Captain, we won't be able to have this little arrangement between you and me." He tried to threaten him.

"You do that. I think Captain is also going to that dinner, you can go together!" James was fooling around.

"James! I'll owe you one. Please." Harold begged.

"You should stay away from her." James said at last.

Harold rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I ruined it."

"And that's why you want to go _so badly_, isn't it?" James said emphasizing the last part.

"Well, her mother invited me…" Harold made a face as if he was calculating.

"Yes, to mock you." James joked.

"Screw you, James." Harold kicked his hat. "Will you do it, now, please?"

"No."

Harold made a long face. "Alright, cool." He turned to leave, but James stopped him.

"Wait, okay, I'll do it." The young boy cursed himself.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Harold was hugging James.

"Alright, that's enough." He tried to push the other one off. "Don't thank me just yet."

"Watch for Lightoller, he's always hot on my tail." Harold rolled his eyes.

"I've noticed. Good thing she doesn't have a valet to follow her around, eh?" James looked at him in the mirror while buttoning his uniform.

"Oh, I think she's already got two."

"Oh, yes, I see her often with her brother. He doesn't let her out of his sight." James was talking while fixing his uniform.

"Brother?" Harold was confused.

"Yeah, the tall one, black hair. You've probably seen him a lot."

"Yeah, I saw him." Harold's lips twitched in a smile once he came to the realization.

"And that blondie she's been walking around with I don't know." They left James's quarters and were headed for the bridge.

"That's William Caison." Harold said annoyed. "Spoiled little rich brat."

"Oh, you two know each other?" James said, raising his eyebrows in wonder.

"We have a little history together you can say that." Harold answered.

They reached the bridge just when the Capitan stepped in.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Mr. Lowe, ready for that dinner?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Harold smiled.

Elaine didn't notice when Harold walked in, but he immediately recognized her even though he was facing her back. He walked from behind her and spun her around.

"Shall we dance?" he smirked.

"Oh, so he speaks." Elaine was startled but didn't let it show so she returned the smirk.

Harold didn't say anything just kept looking while a small smile danced on his lips.

"You know, it's pretty obvious that you've got a crush." she said.

"Maybe I'm not trying to hide it." He answered.

She looked away and saw half her family just staring at them.

"We should go." She motioned with her head and stepped away.

Harold looked at the direction she was pointing at and realized.

"I see." He nodded. "Please, allow me." He offered his arm.

Elaine hesitated for a moment but linked her arm with his. "I guess there's no harm in that." And held her head up high like nothing's wrong.

As on cue, her family started moving as well. Elaine suggested that they slow down, allowing the rest of them to get seated. When they arrived, everyone acted surprised when they saw Elaine and Harold approaching. Elaine scanned the area and saw that the chair beside Edward was empty. She pressed her lips and met Edward's gaze, learning that he hadn't found her yet. Everyone was just staring expectantly at them, waiting for Elaine's next move.

She cleared her throat when she became aware of her surroundings again. "Allow me to introduce you to Mr. Harold Lowe."

Harold, not used to being in the spotlight, felt slightly uncomfortable. He didn't know what or should he say something so he remained silent, but nodded his head at them.

"Mr. Lowe!" Kenneth was first to speak "Pleasure to meet you. Please take a seat." He extended his arm at one of the empty chairs.

"Pleasure's all mine." He said once he was seated. "Thanks to Mrs. Badour for the invite." He smiled at her.

"Oh, don't mention it!" she waved it off and laughed.

"Mr. Lowe was of great help today. He gave us a tour of the ship today." Elaine wanted to represent Harold in the best possible light.

"Oh, please, I think Mr. Andrews should take all the credit. I also learned some new things." They all laughed.

There was a commotion down the dining room and everyone turned their heads to follow it up.

"Excuse me! Coming through! Sorry!" it was Estella running down the aisle.

Her mother watched in disbelief and Elaine sipped on her champagne beside her. She thought that everyone thought about how it wasn't her instead. Not that she would actually run.

"I am so sorry! I hope it hadn't been too long!" Estella said once he got to her chair. "I am so sorry, baby." She whispered to Edward and kissed his cheek.

"Well, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for this." Elizabeth grinned at her.

Elaine nearly choked. She never saw Elizabeth strict with Estella. And especially not with killing them with kindness games.

Estella, being put in the spotlight, stood there frozen. "I, uhm… Oh, they're bringing out meals! Just in time!" she was quick to avoid the explaining and sat down.

Elizabeth was burning holes through her first daughter with her eyes. Estella never disobeyed before. She gave her a _this isn't over_ look and the other one knew that very well. As on cue, Estella looked at her sister who was sipping on the champagne again to sustain a laugh. Elaine raised her eyebrows as if she wanted to say _let's see how'd you get out of this_.

An uncomfortable silence fell among them.

"I'm sorry to ask," Brandon was the first one to break it looking at Harold "but are you of the Barmouth Lowes?"

Harold shot his head up as if he was not sure he was talking to him. "Yes, actually." He swallowed.

Brandon smirked. It was an evil smirk, Elaine noticed. "Really? Then what are you doing being an officer on the ship when your father owns the largest business in Liverpool?"

"I wanted nothing to do with it." He shrugged. "I always wanted to be at sea, so here I am."

"Didn't your father want you to inherit his business?" Kenneth jumped in, innocently wondering.

"He certainly did." Harold confessed. "But I always wondered, why me? I surely wasn't his only son."

"Maybe he trusted you the most." Elizabeth offered a reasonable explanation, smiling.

"I don't know, he knew that I didn't want to do anything with it."

"We've crossed paths before. How is he now? He may have changed his mind, eh?" Brandon asked.

"I wouldn't know. My father and I are no longer speaking." He declared.

"Oh, poor dear." Charlotte commented quietly.

"How come?" asked Philip.

"After I rejected him _again,_ he decided he doesn't want to do anything with me anymore. Practically, I'm no longer his son."

"Oh, my God, that's terrible!" Elaine shouted. "I couldn't believe your dad would disown you over something so stupid!"

"It's not stupid." Said, William.

"Excuse me?!" Elaine spat.

"Well, he practically dishonoured his father. Which is a shame, I'm sure we would be partners now."

"You know we wouldn't, William." Harold coldly said.

"What was dishonouring there?" Elaine went on as if she didn't hear anything else. "That he chose his dream job over his father's company? As he said, he wasn't the only son and it certainly wasn't his duty to do so. Not that it was any of your brothers also." She looked at Harold as to not get her wrong. "What would you do, father? Would you disown Philip if he decided not to take over the company?" she challenged.

"Elaine!" Elizabeth hissed, hitting her slightly under the table.

"What would you do, father?" she was persistent.

"I, uh… Well, luckily, that isn't the case, but I, uh…" he was sweating cold.

"You're taking too long to answer. I can't believe you." She made a disgusted face. "And you Mr. Caison, would you disown William? Him being the only child it's a lot to lose on both parts." she turned to face him.

"I would be too ashamed to do that." William said before his father could give an answer.

"No." Elaine frowned in disgust. "That is a weakness. You would be too weak to do that because you are a weak man, William Caison!" everyone was staring at her as she shouted. "And what Mr. Lowe here did was bravery. Bravo, Mr. Lowe, I congratulate you! And in the name of that, I raise a toast in your name. For following your dreams!" she raised a glass and dared all of them to join her.

First, one to raise her glass was Estella. Then Philip, Edward, Elizabeth and so on. The last one to join was William. Harold and Elaine smiled at each other and drank.

"I kept in touch with my mom and siblings, though." Harold added at last.

"Oh, that is lovely." Estella sympathetically said and Harold lightly shrugged as _it is what it is_ but gave her a smile as to let her know he appreciated it.

"Well, would you look at the time!" Mr. Ismay exclaimed looking at his watch. "Gentlemen, if you agree we shall move to the smoking room and leave ladies to chit chat." He grinned at them with, what Elaine thought was the creepiest smile.

They slowly started leaving one by one and in that crowd, Harold approached Elaine.

"Are you going to join them?" she joked.

"Well, I would if I didn't have an actual job to do." He returned the smile.

"Like them, you can say it." She added feeling the sentence was kind of empty.

"I didn't want to be rude. It's your father and brother, I didn't want to offend you after what you did."

"No worries." She sympathetically smiled. "And if it wasn't you it would be someone else. Not that I could say I would do the same." They laughed.

"Mr. Lowe! Them rounds won't do themselves!" Capitan said before heading off.

"Duty calls. Thank you for tonight. I hope to see you soon." He kissed her hand and followed the Capitan.

She turned to the table again, being left with her mother, sister, brother-in-law and Charlotte.

"Well, we shall leave you, we have something to discuss." Edward said, standing up. "C'mon, dear." Elaine saw on her sister's face that she wasn't happy about it and felt sorry for her. "Well, goodnight, ladies!" he said before they headed off as well.

Elaine was thinking about calling it a night too, not being able to be in the presence of Mrs. Caison after calling her son a weak man. Thinking of that she realized that she was crumpling something in her palm. It was a piece of paper. She looked at her mother and Charlotte to see if any of them noticed and when they didn't, turned to read it.

_I had a really great time tonight and I would like to see you later tonight if at all possible. Meet me at the bow. -H_


	7. Chapter 7

Edward closed the door after Estella. He moved slowly around the room, taking off his suit jacket. Estella sat herself at the nearby table peeling off her gloves when their maid came into the room.

"You're back early." She said.

Standing in the middle of the room, Edward turned. "What's that supposed to mean? Should I not be here? In _my_ room?" he turned to look at Estella? "Were you expecting someone else?" he laughed.

"No, sir, I—" the young maid regretted making that stupid comment.

"Leave us, Betty," Estella said looking at the table, scared to look at any of them.

Betty didn't say anything, just went out of the room as fast as she could.

Edward took a seat across Estella and lit a cigarette. "Now," he said in between blows "you know I'm going to ask you."

"You know I don't like you smoking around me." She looked away.

"And I don't like it when you embarrass me!" he yelled and Estella winced. He inhaled the smoke and let it out, calming himself. "I don't want to yell at you, Stella. If you didn't do anything wrong then you'll have no problem telling me the truth."

She swallowed. "I can't tell you." She looked at him, her eyes all red from holding back tears.

"Why?" he leaned forward as if challenging her.

"Because," she took a deep breath "it would ruin a surprise."

"A surprise?" he raised his eyebrows. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"For your birthday, sweetie!" Estella made a nervous smile, afraid he would not believe her.

"Your making _me_ a surprise?" Edward laughed.

Estella didn't know whether to start laughing with him or not. "Yes, sweetie, didn't I always?" she rose up and walked over to him.

"Yeah, I guess you did." He had to admit.

She smiled satisfactorily and hugged him from behind. She felt he was still a bit of a tense. "Is something wrong?"

He sighed. "I just thought it was something else. I mean, the way you put up a show…"

"Well, I had to, didn't I? Otherwise, you'd be onto me." She leaned forward to face him.

"Yeah, I guess."

Estella kissed his cheek. "Let's get to bed."

She felt like the weight on her shoulders was lifted up, and Edward felt there was more to the story, but decided to let it go for tonight. He'll get to the bottom of this first thing in the morning.

"Hey, you're back on time," James said when he spotted Harold.

"No, I'm not." Answered the other boy. James wanted to say something, but Harold stopped him before he could say anything. "I came to tell that I have an extra hour. Captain's orders."

"What the hell?!" James spat.

"I don't have time for this, she'll be here any second." Harold patted James on the shoulder, but before he could leave the other boy grabbed him.

"You invited her here?!" he hissed.

They both turned to see Mr. Murdoch looking at their commotion and James let go of Harold's hand.

"Good evening, Mr. Murdoch. How are you?" Harold flashed him his the most charming smile.

"Ah, so-so." Mr. Murdoch answered, holding his cup of tea.

"Very well," Harold answered waiting for Mr. Murdoch to go back minding his own business. Once he did, he turned again to James. "Of course not, stupid. But tell me, did Lightoller caused you any trouble?"

"No. He did walk around, but he knows your rounds start at ten."

"Dammit," Harold whispered looking at his watch. "It's quarter to ten."

"Then you better start moving, boy." James wiggled his eyebrows.

"Shut up." And with that Harold left the bridge.

He went flying down the stairs to beat her from waiting for him. He then realized how stupid it was for him to ask her to meet here since they could easily be seen from the bridge. He came down just in time to see Elaine coming out from under the bridge and quickly motioned to her to stay put. She stopped walking and gave him a weird look. He looked up and around to see if anyone saw him and if it was safe to approach her.

"What was that?" she laughed, intrigued.

"Measures of precaution." He answered not looking at her, but ahead of them. Elaine waited if he'd say anything else, but he didn't. He just took her by the hand and said "Come."

They started walking slowly at first, but Harold started picking up the pace when they were almost running down the deck. In their advantage, there wasn't many people out, almost not any.

Elaine loved it. She laughed but hardly could keep up anymore. "Slow down, please."

He stopped at the corner where the stairs were. Elaine leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Looking at her like that he could do the same. She had a pure smile on her face and didn't even care that her dark brown hair was all messed up.

"What?" she asked looking at him, her hand on her chest.

"Nothing." He shook her head.

"So," she moved towards him. "Where are we going, Mr. Lowe?" she said in her the most seductive tone that sent shivers down his spine.

"I want to show you something."

"That wasn't on the tour list?" she raised her eyebrows.

He shook his head. "You tell me."

She smirked. "Lead the way, then."

He got a hold of her hand once again. "Here, down the stairs. I'll go first, follow me."

They walked down into the dim light, Elaine looking around not recognizing the place.

"I don't think we—" suddenly she slipped on her dress, but Harold was quick to turn and catch her. "Oops." She said.

"Are you alright?" he said, his breathing quick.

"Thanks to you, Mr. Lowe, I'm always perfectly fine." she declared.

"Harold." He breathed. "Call me Harold."

"Okay, Harold." She smiled and he let go of her.

"Come, down this hallway." He motioned with his head.

"It's good to have you around, Mr. Lowe—I mean, Harold." She corrected.

"And why is that?" he stopped in front of a door.

"Well, you're always quick to run and help a lady in trouble. Do you help a lot of ladies like me?" she wondered.

"Other ladies like you don't get in trouble as much as you do." He answered and opened the door. "After you." He cheekily smiled at her.

Elaine passed him wondering if it was a good or a bad thing what he just said. She suddenly froze in the doorway as if she remembered something and turned to face him.

"_Ladies_," the world rolled out of her tongue. "You said earlier today you were always happy to help _a lady_ in trouble, were you implying that I am not a lady?" she questioned him.

"No—"

"Do you think I'm a prostitute? Is that why you brought me down here?"

"No!"

"A hooker?"

"Miss Badour—"

"Are you trying to rape me?"

"For Christ's sake, no! I was just, well, I saw you with these two men and I didn't want to be fooled around by you so I just—"

"Was rude?"

"Yes! No, I mean, well, I later found out that one of them is your brother, supposedly everyone knew that except me, and the other one is William Caison." He was nervous, Elaine could tell.

Elaine started laughing. Harold just stood there, uncomfortable, watching her. Once she composed herself, she wiped the tears from her eyes murmuring _oh goodness_ and turned around.

They entered the room where the swimming pool was. It left Elaine completely breathless. It was completely empty with the dim light from the wall lamps filling the room, but most of the light was coming from the moonlight which reflected on the shimmering water.

"Harold, this is beautiful." She exclaimed, completely forgetting about their previous conversation.

"So, you hadn't been here," Harold himself wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement he was making.

"No, not yet at least. I heard about the swimming pool, but no."

"Well then, care to go for a swim?" he motioned with his arm.

"Now? I possibly couldn't."

"Oh, come on! I bring you all the way here and you won't even dip your fingers. But you are more than welcome to watch if you'd prefer." He said as he was rolling his pants up and kicking off his shoes and socks. He walked over to the rim of the pool and sat down. "Ahh. Are you sure you don't want to join me?" he looked at her over his shoulder.

Shee stood behind just looking at him. She felt challenged. It was the first time that some dared her to something. She lifted her dress and kicked off her shoes. Harold noticing the movement, turned his head with to give her privacy, if needed, with a smirk. Minute later she sat beside him, her bare feet in the water.

"You made a good call." He leaned back.

"No, I did the good deed. You were lonely." She looked at him.

"That too. I agree." He straightened himself a little bit.

"More than once tonight!" she rose a finger up.

He laughed. "Yeah."

"By the way, what's with you and the Caisons?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh, that! Well, we were kind of at war. Did you see how they pretended to not know who I am?"

Elaine laughed. "Yeah! What's that about?"

"My dad screwed them over." He started. "When I went home for the holiday's father would've let me stay only if I worked with him. He thought I would change my mind and decide to take over and stay with them forever. And to be fair, I thought so too. I couldn't really judge something I hadn't tried before. So, yeah, I got in just when he was negotiating business with Caisons. I was amazed at how little William spoke, but he probably trained his whole life for that moment." Harold rolled his eyes.

"I was just sitting there, listening. Listening to the fairytales basically. They were talking like they could do this and that if we only paired up, but honestly, their only intention was to screw my dad over and drain all of his money. And what I failed to say is they were competitors." He remembered. "And not one competitor has true intentions."

"What happened then?"

"After the meeting, I told father about my concerns and what we should do. I said we should accept the partnership, but do this: we let them think that we are going to invest in them, which we are in the beginning and let them do their projects that they oh so praised about, but we raise the stakes. Or in this case, we lower them. So, we start with the higher investment than they expected and as their business grows, we lower it with the excuse 'well you got your business running just fine, I don't know where the money from that goes to'. Eventually, they hit a rock bottom and my dad walks away richer than ever with his investors."

"Wow," Elaine said in the end.

"Well, they would have done it to my dad." He shrugged. "They were on the shaky ground anyway."

"But they somehow managed to get back in the game." Elaine shook her head.

"They have their manipulative ways. It just depends on how bites the bait."

"But you walked away, anyway?" she said looking at him.

"Well, if I didn't, I wouldn't be sitting here with you."

"Or maybe you would, but only you'd be a handsome businessman who sneaks into the pool with a first-class lady in the middle of the night," Elaine suggested.

"Oh, if you're a first-class lady, where does that put me? Second class?" he raised his eyebrows at her. "No? Third?" she giggled. "Like, I'm rich as hell, but oh I'm so modest you'll give me a third-class ticket, thank you very much!"

Elaine could barely get any breath from laughing. "Stop it!"

"And by the way, you think I'm handsome?" he looked at her.

She immediately stopped laughing. As if she forgot to speak, she remained silent.

"Why, I think you're pretty attractive, too." He said and cleared his throat.

Elaine turned around and blushed. Once the tingly feeling has stopped, she turned again to look at him. "Why?" she quietly asked. He gave her a puzzled look. "Why did you leave again?"

"I couldn't live in that lie. That life is full of lies and schemes. Just looking at how to screw over one another. It wasn't fulfilling." He finished.

"Trust me, I know." Elaine breathed looking ahead.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way than this." He looked at her.

"Me neither." She looked back.

They stared at each other for a couple of moments until Elaine shivered.

"Are you cold?" Harold frowned. "Should we get out? Yeah, we should get ou—"

Elaine grabbed him to stop him from standing up saying "It's not from the cold!" once he was sitting still beside her once again, she repeated quietly "It's not from the cold."

"Then what it is?" he was confused.

She just kept staring at him, a smile dancing on her lips. He still looked puzzled at her then he came to realization making an _ahh_ face and smirking at her. Elaine batted her eyelashes at him and he moved closer and closer until there was no space between them. Their noses were touching for a couple of moments until he finally kissed her.

If it was for Elaine, she would have kissed him the first day when he saved her hat. As of thank you, of course. But the wait is what made that kiss even more special. It was a sweet kiss at first but it got deeper and deeper with each passing second. When things started to really heat up, Harold pulled away.

"D-Do you want to go somewhere else?" he asked, breathless.

She just nodded her head, unable to say anything. They grabbed their stuff and went out hand in hand.


	8. Chapter 8

James Moody finished his rounds around the ship and just got back to the wheelhouse. There were Mr. Hichens and Mr. Murdoch to accompany him.

"Ah, Mr. Moody," William Murdoch said once he spotted him "I just made tea. Would you like a cup?"

"Yes, thank you." The young boy answered, rubbing his hands from the cold.

William disappeared for a second and appeared the next, holding two cups of tea. "Here you go, kid." He said handing him one.

"Thank you very much," James said taking a sip.

They both were looking ahead of themselves, staring at the ocean when Lightoller came from behind.

"You may take your leave to drink your tea, Mr. Murdoch. I'll take it from here." He said, all formal.

"Very well, Mr. Lightoller." William didn't hesitate to step back and allow Charles to stand in his place.

Once William left, Charles said still looking ahead "I believe Mr. Lowe's rounds start at ten."

"That is correct," James confirmed, "but he has an extra hour because of today."

"Ah, yes. His little excursion. And dinner? Can you believe it?"

"It's none of my business, sir." James sipped on his tea. "I simply follow Captain's orders."

"I see," Charles said, unpleased. "Well, then, we have half an hour to spare."

And of that, James was afraid. He prayed that Harold shows up before he makes some nonsense.

"Ta-da!" Harold said once he opened the door of his room "this is my secret chambers."

Elaine smiled and walked in, Harold right behind her, quietly closing the door. She looked around the tiny room. There was a mahogany bed, spread the entire length of the wall, and a tiny window hanging above it. Beside the bed was a desk with drawers and beside it was a dresser with a full-length mirror. Across from the dresser was a small sink with a small mirror hanging above. Seeing the look on her face, Harold instantly regretted bringing her here.

"I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea bringing you here. I should've taken you somewhere far more lux—" she shushed him by placing her tiny finger on his lips.

"So, is this where the magic happens?" she raised an eyebrow, asking daringly.

He smiled, her finger still being on his lips. He took her hand and interlocked their fingers. Leaning against her forehead he said, "It can happen whatever you want to happen."

Elaine bit her lip. "Is that so?" she asked, her breath steady. Their hands started moving against each other.

Instead of answering her, Harold nodded his head before pressing his lips against hers. Elaine took a sharp breath in. She could smell all of him; his tiny bit of cologne, the soap, his natural smell, all of it. It wasn't long before the kiss turned into a very passionate kiss. Elaine took off his hat and tossed it behind.

"Oops." She said in between kisses, running her fingers through his hair.

"Good thing it's not windy here." They both chuckled into the kiss.

He took off her coat and helped her unbutton his. He quickly kissed her again before picking her up and making his way over to the bed. He placed her down and took a moment to admire her. She didn't even have to take her clothes off to leave him breathless. They didn't need words, they perfectly understood one another from just looking into each other's eyes.

One by one, pieces of clothes were removed. Harold let her hair down before rushing to kiss her again. When she reached to take off his shirt something inside of him clicked and he pulled away.

"Elaine, stop. We don't have to do this." He said, holding his hand up to keep her away from him.

"What? Did I do something? Am I not… good enough? Bad even?" she asked, obviously concerned.

"No! It's nothing like that. You're perfect and, oh my God, you're stunning." He said caressing her cheek and she leaned into his touch. "I just don't want to do this because you think we have to."

"What?! I didn't go all the way here for you to preach like this. Did you really think you could bring me here against my will, let alone keep me?" she said in disbelieve.

He smiled at himself. "Of course not, you're a feisty one."

"Harold," she took him by the hand. "I want this. With you." She looked pleadingly into his eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now shut up and kiss me." They both laughed before Harold leaned into her again.

"What time is it, Mr. Moody?" Charles Lightoller enrolled in the wheelhouse again.

"Eleven ten, sir," James replied.

"Do you know what that means?" Lightoller raised his eyebrows at him.

"You're checking do I know how to read time?"

"Ha, very funny. If you keep this humour up the only thing smiling back at you will be a suspension. Now, where's Mr. Lowe? He's _late_." The last world enrolled off his tongue.

"I'm sure he's asleep, he'll be here soon." James composed himself, looking sternly ahead.

"Then I better go wake him up."

"Please, allow me." James moved to stop him, but Lightoller stepped back eyeing him suspiciously.

"Mr. Moody, if you are his next victim for helping him hide his schemes, you'll be in big trouble."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," the young boy said, giving up.

"Very good. Then you won't mind me waking him up." He patted James on the shoulder.

"No, sir." James closed his eyes and cursed himself under his breath.

Elaine was lying on top of Harold's bare chest drawing circles while he was playing with her hair.

"Tell me something about yourself." she looked at him curiously, sucking her lips in her mouth afraid he may not answer her.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, putting away a strand of her hair that fell on her face when she turned her head away from him.

"Everything." She looked at her finger. "Tell me your life story."

He smiled. "Well, you already know the half of it. But okay." He took a deep breath. "I ran away from home when I was fourteen."

"You did what?!" she rose up.

He laughed bringing her down into his embrace. "It was the only way to start doing what I've always loved. Sailing. I wanted to be at sea. To be in the open, to be free. That's what power is. Not controlling other people like my father."

"You speak so passionately about it." Elaine quietly said.

"I am." He chuckled. "It is my home honestly. My heart is fulfilled right now."

"Don't you miss your real home?" she wondered.

"I wouldn't run away from my home if it was a home." He breathed. For a couple of moments, the only thing you could hear was their breathing. "That's why I didn't speak with my father."

"But what about your family?" Elaine frowned. Even though she sometimes couldn't stand her own family, running away was never considered.

"I miss my mom and siblings, of course. We send letters back and forth. Do you want me to read you the latest I got from my mom?"

"Yeah, if it's not too personal. I'd like to know what she's like." Elaine smiled as he got up and pulled one of the drawers out.

While he was searching through a pile of papers someone knocked on the door. They both looked alarmed at each other.

"Mr. Lowe! Open the door!" it was Charles Lighttoler.

"Oh, shit." He whispered.

"What now?!" Elaine panicked.

"I don't know!"

A loud bang came from the door.

"Just a second!" Harold answered. He helped Elaine pick her things up. "You need to get in the dresser." He said to her.

"What?! I can't fit in that tiny space!"

"We have no other choice!" he hissed, helping her get into it.

"What's taking so long, Mr. Lowe?"

"I'm not properly dressed, sir!"

"We're all men here, Mr. Lowe." He could sense the annoyance in Lighttoler's voice.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't feel comfortable with other men looking at me." He buttoned his shirt quickly.

"Mr. Lowe, open the door this instant!"

"Hello!" Harold cracked the door open and peeked his head.

Charles slightly frowned and pushed the door. "All the way open." He walked in and scanned the room. Then he turned to Harold and eyed him. When he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary, he sighed. "Get fully dressed and I'll see you on the bridge in five."

Harold waited for him to get out of sight before helping Elaine out. They both got dressed as quickly as possible and left his room. They stopped at the corner.

"Will you manage from here?"

She nodded her head in response.

"Okay." He quickly kissed her goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow." And they parted ways.

As much as Elaine was careful, you could never be too careful. From the other corner, watching like a hawk was Lightoller. And he wondered how interesting tomorrow will be after he reports this to the Captain.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Elizabeth was bright and early. She left her room and was headed to the suite of her eldest daughter. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it.

"Good morning, Mrs. Badour." It was Betty "How can I help you?"

"Are they up?" Elizabeth's voice was stern.

The girl nodded her head. "They are in the sitting area." She said but kept standing in the doorway as if hesitating to let Elizabeth in or not.

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at her and the young girl immediately stepped aside. She passed through, her head held high. When she appeared in the sitting area, there were Estella and Edward with Philip. The first one to notice her was Edward. As he went to acknowledge her presence, she quickly signed for him to keep quiet and motioned her head towards the promenade.

"Excuse me for a sec," Edward said standing up. He was followed by Estella's curious look, but Elizabeth was long gone out of sight for her to see her.

"What's the matter?" Edward said once he joined Elizabeth.

"Have you talked to her?" she cut right to the case.

"Yes." He nodded. "Yes, I have. She said she's planning a surprise for my birthday." He laughed.

"And you believed her?" Elizabeth asked as if she was ready to mock him if he did.

"I wish I have." He answered, looking out the in the distance. "It was just strange, you know? Her behaviour. She was frightened. Would someone planning some innocent event be that frightened?" he asked rhetorically.

"I'll ask her about it—"

"Mother!" Estella shouted joining them. "What are you two whispering about?" she stood beside Edward, taking his arm.

Estella caught Elizabeth by surprise that at first, she looked like she forgot how to speak. "Well, I, uh, we… Well, I was recommending if we could have breakfast here, as a family?" she came up with the stupidest lie she could ever think of.

"That is a lovely idea, mother! I'll inform Betty. And Alfred to inform others!"

"Well, well, well, it's a party out here," Philip said stepping out. "And yet, no one cared to invite me."

"We were just about to, brother. Mother came up with this lovely idea to have breakfast here." Estella exclaimed.

"Is that so?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, just us," Elizabeth confirmed smiling at him.

"Then we better tell father and Elaine."

"I'm on it!" Estella shouted and wandered off.

Elizabeth looked at Edward saying _that was close_ with her eyes.

"Miss Badour. Miss Badour." Amelia was whisper-shouting trying to wake Elaine up. She already overslept.

"Go away, Amelia." She tried to wave the other girl off in her sleep.

"Miss, Mr. Davies was here to let you know you'll be having breakfast on your sister's promenade."

Elaine groaned. She came late last night and didn't get much sleep during the night.

"Miss!"

Elaine shot her eyes open and rose up. She went her hand through her hair and looked around. Finally, her eyes laid on Amelia. "Were you shouting at me?"

"Yes!" Amelia shot back. But thinking of it, maybe she should have apologized instead.

"Very bold of you." Elaine shook her head taking off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed to stretch.

"Are you all right, miss?" seeing grimaces Elaine was making while stretching, Amelia felt obliged to ask.

"I feel…a little bit sore." She answered holding onto her neck.

"You came pretty late last night…" Amelia sing sang.

"Shut up, Amelia." Elaine shushed her, but couldn't help to crack a smile remembering the last night. "You are using my tiredness to overpower me." She yawned.

"I would never, miss. I simply want to help you get dressed for today." Amelia couldn't help but notice that her relationship with Elaine improved since she met Harold. "And you can tell me everything about last night. If you please, of course."

"Oh, Amelia, where do I even start…"

"Sorry, we are late to the party since no one cared to inform us in advance." Kenneth joked once he arrived with Elaine's arm in arm.

"Nonsense, dear, you're right on time." Elizabeth was quick to reassure him.

"And it was a last-minute call," Estella added.

"Well, it's nice." Elaine smiled at all of them trying to hide how tired she really was. "I hope for a little quality time with my family. For a change." She said the last part under her breath.

In the first half, they were chit chatting nonsense and as the thing started to quiet down Elizabeth asked.

"So, Estella, tell us. What kept you so busy last night?" she raised an eyebrow.

Estella stood frozen, clearly not expecting this. "I can't tell you." She finally said and continued eating.

Elizabeth faked a laugh. "Why not?" she asked as if she was surprised.

"Oh, mother, why can't you torment Elaine again?" she placed down her knife and fork and looked at her.

"Excuse me?" Elaine narrowed her eyes at her sister, offended.

"I will." Elizabeth declared. "She looks like she's going to fall asleep on this table." Elaine opened her mouth to protest, but Elizabeth continued. "But that's after I finish with you."

Estella pressed her lips. She knew there was no getting out of this unless she gives her something. And the only thing she could say now was the same story she told Edward.

"Well," she swallowed "Since Edward already knows, I guess I could tell you as well. I'm making him a surprise for his birthday."

"A surprise party, cool," Philip said.

"I didn't say it was a party." She said annoyed.

"Really?" Elizabeth faked the amusement. "Can we help?"

"What?" Estella blinked.

"Perhaps you should take Elaine for today, otherwise she will really start snoring on the table." Elaine wanted to protest again but was cut off. "Which leads us to your interrogation, missy."

"I really just had a bad night, that's all. Weird dreams, really. Couldn't sleep properly." Elaine rambled on to explain herself.

"I wonder what caused that…" Elizabeth half-whispered, but talking to no one in particular.

"Give them kids a break, Beth. Lots of things are going to change once we arrive, let them be." Kenneth said.

Elizabeth made a displeased sound but didn't press on. After the breakfast was over and they all went their separate ways, she caught up with Elaine.

"Walk with me." It wasn't a question it was an order.

Elaine got curious from her mother's tone and decided to follow her knowing something big is hiding behind this.

"I meant what I said." Elizabeth started. "You are going to assist your sister on this task of hers." She wrinkled her nose as if she was disgusted.

"Mother, if this is some sort of punishment—"

"Cut it! I don't care if you were out partying all night," on which Elaine curiously raised her eyebrows thinking would her mother really approve of that "our main priority is your sister. I feel there's more to the story."

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"You're a smart girl, Elaine. You'll know what to do." She smiled and touched her cheek before leaving.

Harold could barely keep his eyes open that morning as well. He didn't get much sleep when he finished his night rounds and it was already the time for morning ones. All he could think about was her. His colleagues would often find him staring at one spot just smiling and they would mess with him. Nearly at the end of his shift, officer Pitman approached him.

"Capitan wants to see you in his quarters."

Harold was taken aback. "Do you know what about?" he frowned.

"No, but he said it was urgent."

"Okay, thanks, mate." He patted him on the shoulder and headed.

He knocked on the door and after a muffled _come in_ he opened the door.

"Ah, officer Lowe," the Capitan exclaimed once he spotted Harold in the doorway "come on in and close the door, please."

Harold gulped and did what he was told. They stood in silence for a couple of moments, Harold waiting for him to stop looking through some papers.

"You wanted to see me, sir—" he coughed.

"Yes, I did, Mr. Lowe." Edward J. Smith looked back at him. "It was quite a dinner last night, wasn't it?"

Not knowing where this was going, Harold answered "Yes, it was nice. Very kind of Mrs. Badour to invite me as well."

"Yeah, yeah," Capitan Smith leaned back in his chair "they are a nice company, aren't they?"

"I can't complain, sir." Refusing to meet his eyes, Harold answered.

"Now, I have some reports here," searching through the papers again, Smith started "saying you were late on the duty last night. Is that correct?"

"You gave me an extra hour to rest, if needed, sir."

"Right, right." He confirmed after Harold refreshed his memory. "And you used it well, boy."

"Well, yeah, I did…" Harold answered almost smiling and then he realized, but it was already too late.

"That's a confirmation right there. Now, tell me, do you know that mingling with passengers is _strictly_ forbidden?"

"Yes, sir." he kept staring down.

"Then what the hell were you doing with Elaine Badour, for Christ's sake?!"

He cursed himself under his breath. It happened exactly what was he afraid of. At least he hoped he wouldn't know who the girl was.

"I-I-She got lost and then I-" he tried to explain himself as best as he could.

"Enough! She was seen leaving _your_ quarters, Mr. Lowe! Do you want me to go into any more details?"

Remembering holding her hand and kissing her goodbye, he shook his head.

"I should suspend you for a day." Harold shot his head back up after hearing this. "Yes, and I will! You are not allowed to leave your quarters until your rounds tomorrow morning. You may leave now." Capitan Smith motioned with his hand towards the door.

Harold left without saying anything. He was only thinking about how this is going to ruin _everything_.

Later that afternoon Elaine knocked on the door of her sister's room. It took Estella awhile to answer, but Elaine was persistent.

"Hey, sister," she smiled at her. "Would you like to go for an afternoon walk with me?"

Estella seemed to hesitate for a moment, but finally, she said "Sure." staling as much as she could. "Let me just grab my hat."

Elaine nodded and patiently waited in the hallway. Shortly after Estella stepped into the hallway closing the door behind her. She kept staring down refusing to look at her sister.

"We can go now." She said walking down a little bit faster than usual. She kept struggling to pull up on her gloves.

"Is someone chasing you?" Elaine asked trying to keep up behind her.

"Huh?" Estella rose her head up and stopped in track making Elaine almost collide with her.

"Jesus." Elaine hissed. "Estella, is everything alright?"

"No, yes, I don't know." She let her shoulders fall.

Elaine walked up to her and rubbed her hands up and down her sister's upper-arm in a comforting manner.

"You know you can talk to me?" She held her gaze on her sister.

Estella nodded her head keeping it down.

"Come," Elaine nudged her, "let's go outside so we can talk."

Once they we're strolling down the 1st class deck, Estella opened up.

"I just feel a lot of pressure, Elaine." She admitted. "With the wedding and, you know, the rest…" she trailed off. "Everything has to be perfect, but honestly it's beyond my powers. Our mother is pulling all the strings, I had no much say in this." She sniffed.

"Oh, Stella…" Elaine placed a comforting arm around her sister's shoulders. "I didn't know you felt that way. I thought you want this."

They reached the end of the deck and stood beside the railing looking down at the passengers.

"Well, yeah, you can say that pretending everything's great runs in the family."

"You didn't have to keep this from me for so long. You should've told me." Elaine placed a comforting hand on her back. "Is that why you're planning something special for Edward? To blow off some steam?" she continued.

Estella shrugged. "I don't know, maybe." Seeing that she didn't satisfy Elaine with that answer, she continued. "I'd like to be in charge of something for once. To see what is it like. To have no one tell me how to sit or speak or behave." She paused for a second. "I envy you, Elaine." She looked at her.

Elaine was slightly taken aback. "M-me? Why?"

"Please, you would never let this happen. You are so carefree. Mother is afraid of you."

"Goodness, Estella, shut up. What are you saying?" Elaine turned away not wanting to believe her ears.

"Yes, she's frightened." Estella chuckled being amused by the sudden reaction from her sister. "She says you're either make or break this family."

"Oh, wow, thanks a lot mother." Elaine blinked in surprise looking at the distance. "Can't she pick on Philip for once?" she smirked, giving Estella the side-eye.

"Oh, no, he's the perfect son." Estella breathed. "Speaking of which…" she nodded her head in the direction of the deck below them where Philip and Edward were talking with Lightoller.

"Elaine, I want you to know that I love Edward." She said all of a sudden in a more serious tone. "I really do. And I want to marry him."

Elaine studied her sister for a while to see what made her take a sudden turn in the conversation. "I know that." She said at last. "I-I can see it in you, and when you're together. You two are the perfect match." She smiled, but it was more of a trying to convince herself of all of those things.

"Good," Estella answered, satisfied. "Should we go now? Rest before dinner?"

Elaine nodded her head in agreement. She walked Estella to her room before making her way alone to hers when a thought hit her. She didn't see Harold not even once the whole day. She did the calculation in her head and concluded that he should not be on his rounds now, but instead in his room.

She quickly turned around, making her way back and sneakily getting into the officer's quarters without anyone seeing her. Once she was in front of his door, she knocked.

Instead of seeing the joy on Harold's face when he saw her, she saw how horrified he actually was.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, looking left and right before harshly pulling her into his room before anyone could see them. "You shouldn't be here." He crossed his arms making the obvious distance between them.

Elaine leaned on the desk behind her, gripping at the end of it. She was surprised by his sudden change of behaviour.

"I-I didn't see you the whole day. I-I got worried something might've happened—"

He laughed out loud although nothing was funny. "Oh, yeah? Well, something did happen. I got suspended!" he shouted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. What happened?" she started making her way over to him evidently worried.

"What happened, my God…" he chuckled. "You happened Elaine!"

"Me?!" she placed a hand on her chest. "You want to say you got suspended because of me?" she frowned.

"Who else? Now my promotion and everything I worked hard for are in question. And all because of a stupid one-night stand!"

"Well, maybe you should've thought about it before you arranged our little date!" she shot back.

"I should've stayed away from you. You _are_ a walking trouble!"

"Don't pretend you know so much about me when you know nothing!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were the one who actually reported me." He said in a calmer tone.

"What?! What could I possibly gain from that?!" she was astonished by his accusations.

"I don't know, you rich snobs love attention." He said making a half-disgusted face.

She stared in disbelief at him. "So, all of this meant absolutely nothing to you?" she lowered her voice not wanting to fight anymore.

"What, did you think I was going to marry you or something?" he said it like it was funny.

"Like I would want to marry you." She both looked and said in disgust.

"Listen, you're not the first girl I've been with and you're certainly not the last." He stated to her. "I can't let any girl get in the way of me and my true love and that is the sea. But you were a good distraction, though." He added at last.

"You make me sick. Avoid me at all costs." She made her way past him and out of the door.

Once she was no longer around him, she realized how upset she actually got. Her heart was pounding and her legs and hands were shaking like crazy. She was on the verge of tears and needed to make a stop to lean against the wall before her legs gave out. Shortly after she managed to steady her breath and get herself to thinking properly once again before she heard a commotion down the hallway. She quickly turned a corner before anyone could see her.

She heard muffled voices, but couldn't really make out what they were saying due to distance, due to excitement. But once she concentrated more, she recognized one of the voices. It was her own sister. Her eyes went wide in surprise. She peeked around the corner and saw Estella standing in the hallway speaking to no other than officer Charles Lightoller, who was standing in the doorway of, supposedly, his room.

Elaine quickly ducked back before they noticed her, pressing her back against the wall as if she could blend in. Before long, she heard footsteps approaching and soon enough she was facing her sister's back walking past her. Luckily for her, Estella just kept walking. Elaine waited until she no longer heard any footsteps and was only surrounded by silence when she checked if the coast was clear before she walked as fast as she could out of there.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **_Hello, lovelies! I just want to ask all of my earlies who read the 9__th__ chapter within of 24h of me posting it to read it again because there are two more scenes added at the end and also because the beginning of this chapter won't make sense without it. Hope you enjoy this one! _

Getting back to her room, Elaine shut the door behind her. She was crushed with the thoughts, but won't let herself feel angry because of some boy she met three days ago. She slowly walked across the room and seated herself at the table, staring into space.

"You came back!" Elizabeth marched into the room and sat opposite of her daughter when she spotted her. "Did you find out anything?"

"I wish to rest, mother." was all Elaine could muster against her lips, still staring ahead.

"But—" she wanted to protest, but Elaine suddenly rose up and dragged herself to the bed. Elizabeth frowned. "Elaine, what is this behavior?!"

"I am tired. We'll talk after dinner." The young girl muffled against her sheets.

Elizabeth stood in the middle of the room with her lips pressed into a thin line, burning holes into her daughter's back with her squinted eyes.

"Alright." She said at last before turning away and leaving the room.

Later that evening, Amelia was waking Elaine up from her accidental nap. They quickly rushed to get ready for dinner in time.

"It's alright, Amelia, I think that'll do." Elaine lightly pushed the other girl away, feeling grumpy. Even she didn't know why she was feeling that way; was that post nap grumpiness or thoughts of Harold that were creeping in the back of her mind? She frowned at herself in the mirror on the thought of him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, miss," Amelia backed away.

Elaine breathed out hard and relaxed her face. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't unload myself on you. Not because of this anyway. It's not your fault."

Amelia stiffed a smile. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, uncertain. The last time she suggested something like that Elaine scolded her and said they are not friends.

But before Elaine could answer, there was a knock on the door and Amelia breathed the sigh of relief. The two girls looked at each other, clearly no one was expecting anyone.

"Do you want me to get that for you, miss?"

"No, no," Elaine waved her hand "It's probably Philip. Came to escort me and all that." She playfully rolled her eyes with a smile.

Amelia returned the smile. "You look lovely, miss."

Elaine wanted to say something sassy back, but thought against it and just shot an "Thank you." over her shoulder.

She opened the door expecting to see her brother standing there, but was astonished when she saw William instead.

"Well, very bold of you showing up at my door." She crossed her arms, looking him up and down.

"After what you said? Yeah, I couldn't care less, Elaine." He said like it was nothing at all. "It's you who needs my help, anyway." He knew just what to say to provoke her and it was working. Elaine's blood was boiling, like the sight of him alone wasn't enough.

Behind the door, Elaine was gripping the handle so strong that her knuckles turned white. She didn't want him to see that he got to her so she kept her silence.

"So, do yourself a favor and let me escort you to dinner." He said while extending his arm.

She hesitated. What she wanted to do and do herself a favor is to slam the door in his face. But she sighed and slipped her arm under his.

"Lead the way, Mr. Caison." She said staring ahead, head held high. He made a smug smirk.

The dining room was already crowded and the band was playing in the background. She felt awkward walking beside William, everyone just nodding their heads in passing until they reached the table. And there were all of the familiar faces Elaine met three days ago. Everyone stared in shock at the two of them.

"Good evening, gentlemen." William said. "Ladies." He added, smiling. "So sorry to keep you waiting." He nudged Elaine towards her seat as to help her sit down.

"William," it was Charlotte.

Elaine couldn't really decide was she scolding her son for being around someone who offended him before all the important people the other night, but here they were still dining at their table.

"Oh, mother, I already told you." He said still standing over Elaine's chair "Water under the bridge, a misunderstanding" He looked down at her and she half grinned at him as to say thank you.

He walked around the table to his seat, saying "I'm sure miss Elaine was feeling a little lightheaded and a few of harsh words slipped her tongue. I'm almost certain she wouldn't have said those things if she was in her common sense." He said sitting down and staring at her expectedly.

She was staring daggers back at him. Not that this blonde brat was telling her, and everyone else, what was she supposedly thinking, he was accusing her of being drunk also.

"I would—" she started, but her mother slapped her hand under the table "not, of course." She let out a shaky smile. "So, in that name I'd love to apologize to William before all of you here that I spoke in haste and raise a toast in his name." she said as she picked up her glass and raised it.

"Very good," Ismay said. "Very good, she's owning up to her actions."

That made Elaine want to roll her eyes.

"That is my daughter for you. Very bold at times, but will admit if she was wrong." Kenneth said proudly and Elizabeth followed with an approving smile.

Elaine glanced over at Estella who shifted beside Edward. She couldn't really read her face though she held her head down.

"That was an easy pass, don't you think?" Elizabeth leaned over to whisper to Elaine. "What's the catch, do you wonder?"

"We are the catch, mother." Said Elaine through gritted teeth. "Think about this next time you say I don't care about this family."

Elizabeth took a sharp breath. "Well, you had to unleash your wittiness somewhere now. And if it's going to be me, so be it."

Elaine didn't have to say anything else and Elizabeth fixed her posture and smiled at everyone else as if nothing had happened. The waiters brought food soon enough and they all dined in peace.

Elizabeth couldn't wait for the men to finally leave the table and once they did, she immediately turned to Elaine, but Charlotte cut her short.

"I have to say, Elaine, I very much appreciate what you did for our William."

Elaine faked a big smile. "I'm glad we could work this out."

"Me too." Said Charlotte. "I don't want to have to think badly of you."

"God forbids!" jumped Elizabeth.

Someone cleared their throat and all three ladies looked up. It was Edward with Estella on his arm.

"Oh, you were still here." Said Elizabeth as if she didn't realize.

"Yeah, and actually we were just leaving. We just wanted to wish you good rest of the night."

All that time Estella was staring blankly at Elaine and Elaine was staring back at her. Their staring was ended when Edward tugged Estella behind him. It left Elaine feeling strange, her mind running wild.

"Now, you and I have something to talk about." Started Elizabeth. "Elaine, are you even listening?!" she questioned her unresponsive daughter.

_Oh my God! _

Panicked Elaine inside her brain.

Now it all made sense.

She looked at her mother with eyes wide open before standing up and running out of the dining room, leaving her mother shouting her name behind her.


	11. Chapter 11

She was frantically running down the deck, colliding with some people, looking for that one person. She slowed down to catch her breath when she spotted the one she was looking for ahead. She approached him carefully.

"It was you, wasn't it?" she said, facing his back.

He turned his head to the side before turning around fully.

"Ah, miss Badour, how can I help you this evening?" Charles Lightoller ignored her previous question.

"You reported Harold to the Captain," she wasn't really sure was she stating it or asking.

He smirked, looking down at her.

"Now, why would I do that? What could I possibly gain from it?"

"I don't know!" she raised her arms up in the air in frustration. "You had it for us since day one!"

"So, you admit you've been sneaking around with him?" he raised his eyebrows.

Elaine stood there distraught. "I, no—I… Well, you've been also sneaky with my sister." She declared all proud. "I could gladly return the favor."

Even if that took Charles by surprise, he didn't let it show. "And do what? Report me? Do you have evidence that could back that up?"

"I have evidence of my own eyes! I saw her leaving your room this very afternoon!"

Lightoller looked at her significantly. "Which would mean you also visited Mr. Lowe this very afternoon. Miss Badour, you're only getting yourself in more and more trouble. Well, maybe not really yourself, but your boy certainly."

"He's not my boy." She gritted.

"He isn't? Good for you then! You see, miss Badour, he's a player. He plays with women's hearts on every ship we've been. Somebody had to put an end to it. I'm sorry this happened to you."

"And what are you doing with your wife's heart?" Elaine asked cold heartedly, on which he put his hands behind his back to hide his wedding ring. "You're a pig. Stay away from my sister." She didn't wait for him to reply, just turned around to walk away.

"Maybe you should tell that to your sister!" he shot back, but Elaine didn't have time for him anymore. She'll have to deal with Estella first thing tomorrow.

It was the morning of Sunday service and everyone was gathered in the main hall. The tension was thick in the air. No one was particularly talking with anyone. Elaine was eyeing Estella from corner of her eye while they stood in line, singing the hymn. She thought about catching her after the service to have _a talk_ with her. Unfortunately for her, unpleasant surprise awaited her outside the hall.

"Elaine, we have to talk."

"What do you want?"

"Elaine, please—" he reached for her arm

"No!" she squirmed away "I don't want to talk to you! I don't even want to see you! Stay away from me, Harold, or by God, I shall tell the captain you're disturbing me!" she shouted with fire in her eyes.

He just stared at her. He gulped, at last, and nodded his head in understatement, not wanting to draw any further unnecessary attention. She turned around and walked away to look for Estella, but she was long gone.

"Dammit!" she swore under her breath.

"I still think you have something to tell me." Somebody linked arms with Elaine and pulled her forward. Of course, that somebody was her mother.

_Dammit again_, thought Elaine.

"And what could that be, sweet mother?" she grinned at her.

"Please, don't humor me. You know what it is. And you are not getting away with it this time." Elizabeth half threatened.

Elaine shivered. She couldn't really tell their mother that Estella was having an affair. With an officer aboard this ship, alas. But she still needed to give her something.

"Estella, uh, she's just having the wedding jitters. She's deranged." God, this was awful. Certainly not what Elizabeth was hoping for.

"That's what she said?" Elaine nodded. "And you believed her?"

_Well, now I'm certain I don't believe a word she said_, Elaine wanted to say, but she really couldn't.

"Maybe you're looking too much into it when there's nothing." Elaine tried to shoot her an encouraging smile.

Elizabeth stopped dead in their track and squeezed Elaine's arm hard, looking into her eyes. "God help us you're right."

There was something frightening in that moment and Elaine understood perfectly. If Estella strayed away everything would go falling down from that moment. Still, she kept her mouth sealed in hope she could help her sister out of this.

That afternoon after lunch, Estella took a stroll on deck by herself. Although it was rather chilly, she enjoyed the sun on her face. Her pleasure was cut short when someone grabbed her by the arms and dragged to the more secluded area. She tried to scream and squirm away, but was quickly shushed by her attacker.

"Charles?" she widened her eyes. "Wh-What are you doing?"

"You need to take care of your sister." He pressed her by the shoulders, looking in her eyes persistent.

"Wh-What? But I thought that's already taken care of."

"Apparently not good enough." He shook his head, backing off. "She knows."

Estella looked at him. "What?" she questioned.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. She doesn't know _that_." She let out a sigh of relief. "However, she does know about us."

"How could she possibly—"

"She saw you, Estella!" he hissed almost in her face. "She saw you leaving my quarters yesterday!" he said in much lower tone, careful not to draw any attention.

"But there was no one! I made sure of it!"

"Did you really?!" he was in her face now and she winced back.

He backed off a little, realizing they had company now and greeted the passers-by, trying not to act suspicious. Estella detached herself from the wall hoping she didn't look too much distressed. When they were alone once again, he turned back to face her.

"You should've been more careful." He said.

"So, this is all my fault now?!" she frowned.

"I didn't say that—"

"But you meant it!" she shouted. "Well, I'm sorry I'm not as smart as her! Even you are amazed by her!"

"I'm not—"

"Shut up! I'm not blind! I see the way you talk about her. You are amazed that she managed to outsmart us, that she is in step with us if not even one step ahead! Why can't anyone just focus on me for once?!" she was shouting, desperate for any kind of attention she could get. Charles tried to shush her.

"That's not entirely true what you just said, my darling." He wanted to calm her down by sweettalking to her. "I have to admit, she confronted me last night. She threatened me with all her knowledge and told me to stay away from you."

"But what is she going to do?"

"Nothing." He declared. "I took care of that part. She can deny her feelings for Harold all she wants, but she won't do anything to endanger him even more." she absorbed his every word. He then turned towards her and cupped her cheeks. "Now I need you to take care of this other part."

Elaine spent that afternoon not doing pretty much anything. She had a lot on her mind, thinking about her encounter with Harold, her mother, and most importantly, Estella and how she could approach her. Knock on the door filled the silence in the room. Amelia rose her head up and looked at Elaine who was now sitting up-right on her bed. Elaine looked at her maid significantly as if to say _well go open it_ with her eyes. On the other side of the door was Betty, Estella's servant.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, miss, I have a message to deliver from your sister. She invites you to have a tea with her in her room." she curtsied.

"Very well, I'll be there presently." Elaine replied.

Betty curtsied again and left. Well, one part of the solution came to her alone.

Once she got changed, she was standing outside Estella's room, waiting to be let in. Soon after, Betty opened the door and welcomed her in. Estella was already waiting for her, sitting by the table. It was just two of them.

"Hello, sister." Estella greeted her. Elaine stared at her. "Well, don't just stand there like a lamb, sit." Estella said and motioned towards the chair opposite of her.

"I thought there would be more of us." Elaine sat in the plush luxurious chair. "Not just two of us." She looked at her sister straight in the eyes.

Estella was taking a sip of her tea before and now was eyeing Elaine over the rim of her cup. She put the cup down before saying.

"Well, I thought we could spend some quality sister time. We're only one day apart from arriving and we didn't get to do pretty much anything."

"I thought we were spending time yesterday," Elaine commented, raising her eyebrows and taking a sip from her cup.

Estella narrowed her face and pressed her lips. "_Yesterday _our mother sent you to interrogate me."

"Well you certainly gave her a reason to." Elaine declared.

The other sister was growing more impatient. "And what did you tell her?"

"There wasn't anything to tell." the younger one was fumbling with her cup. "Same thing you told me." She lifted her head and looked at the older one.

Estella leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table. "And what do you think, Elaine?" she challenged her. "You certainly do have an opinion, don't you?"

"Should I have a reason not to believe you, Estella?" she replied with a question.

This might've taken her off guard.

"Of course not." her posture fell and she let out a heavy breath, she took a sip.

"Anyway, where is Edward?" Elaine asked holding her cup, switching the topic and trying to lighten the mood.

"Out with father and Philip." Estella answered not particularly interested.

Elaine frowned, but didn't say anything, just sipped. The rest of their time went in talking nonsense.

Sometime before dinner Elaine was outside on deck, reading a book when someone approached her. She lifted her head to face a familiar young man.

"Good evening, miss Badour." he tipped his head down at her. "My name is James Moody."

She closed the book, now remembering she saw him with Harold couple of times.

"How can I help you, Mr. Moody?"

"I have a message to deliver from Mr. Lowe—" Elaine had to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I don't want to hear it. Besides, he already said his thing." She smiled at him. "And you shouldn't let him boss you around."

"If you just let him speak this morning I wouldn't be here." He let out and she stared at him in disbelief. "I'm sorry, miss." he put his head down. "I just wanted to tell you how sorry he is."

"James—Mr. Moody," she corrected "You can tell him that I won't stand between him and his promotions and his true love," she talked in a calm tone. "And I won't do anything more to endanger his current position."

Their conversation was interrupted by the dinner announcement. Elaine turned her attention back to Moody and continued on.

"But this, whatever that was, is over now." she looked at him sympathetically. "If you'll excuse me now," she prepared herself to get up and leave.

"Of course," he stepped aside to give her space. "I'll deliver what you said to Harold."

Elaine gave him half a smile. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Moody."

"Likewise, miss Elaine." he tipped his hat again.

The dinner was boring as ever. Listening to the same old conversations, seeing same old faces… Well, that was at least until the gentlemen got up and left. Elaine spent some time conversing with the remaining ladies, not having anything better to do.

"If you'll excuse me," suddenly Estella rose up, grabbing everyone attention. "I need to use the rest room." she did a little curtsy.

Elaine brushed that off, not wanting to doubt her sister, while Elizabeth and everyone else looked at her sympathetically. Quite some time has passed and Estella hadn't returned yet, but no one seemed to notice until they all rose up to leave. Then Elizabeth's eyes fell on an empty chair.

"Where is Estella?" she questioned. "Elaine, where is your sister?"

_As if I know, but I have my guesses._

"Apparently she hadn't returned yet." Elaine answered, sounding exhausted. "Maybe she went back to her room."

"Well, don't just stand there, see to it." her mother hurried her.

Elaine stood distraught at first before turning on her heals and heading for the restrooms. Of course, she found it empty so she headed for the Estella's room. She knocked on the door and was surprised to see Edward answer them. He seemed a bit off.

"Edward," she breathed. "Is Estella here?"

"No." he simply replied, not even seeming worried. "She was here, though."

"Well, do you know where she is now?" Elaine was confused.

Edward stood in the doorway holding a drink in his hand pretending to think for a moment. "Yeah, I've got a couple ideas."

Elaine couldn't believe this was happening again. Not before she could intervene. It actually took some time for her to find her sister, but once she did, oh did she had a lot to hear.

"Did you do it?" said the male voice.

"I tried to. She's tough to crack." Answered female voice in frustration.

Of course, those were voices of Charles Lightoller and Estella.

"Did she tell you something?" Charles was cupping her red face, worried.

Elaine frowned, was Estella crying?

Estella's face changed her when she remembered. "I-I got scared, Charles. She's just… I didn't want to push her buttons."

"You're cracking under the pressure again." He scolded her. "We've talked about this; you can't let that happen."

"I know, I know." She squealed "But I don't know what she knows, maybe she knows more than she told—" she started talking really fast, increasing in volume.

"Enough of that!" he cut her off. "We had a plan!" he hissed.

"I told Edward." She whispered.

"You what?!"

"I don't want to be with him anymore. I don't love him. I… I love you, Charles."

Charles Lightoller was for the first time left speechless.

"I… This wasn't part of the plan."

"That's all you can say?!" Estella cried. "I risked my whole life and future for you and you—" she gasped.

"There, there," Charles couldn't take any more of that so he comforted her.

Once he made sure she was settled down, he went the other way leaving her to sit alone. Elaine didn't want to approach her right away. Her sister was still upset and wiping off her tears. So instead, she was processing the information she gathered so far.

They had a plan, alright. Actually, Charles had. Obviously, he wanted Harold out of his way. But why? He was already the first officer, what more could he want? Unless… Unless… he felt threatened by the junior officer. That was it, no doubt. But then again, why? Oh, of course!

_Harold is a player._

He would play his way into the higher ranks just because he's bold and daring while Charles was hard working and honest. But what did he need Estella for? That thought was interrupted when Estella showed herself around the corner and took them both by surprise. She jumped in fear, but Elaine stood still glued to the wall. Looking into Estella's teary eyes, she now knew everything to confront her sister.

"Hello, sister." it was her turn to smirk now.


	12. Chapter 12

"What do you want?" Estella spat, distressed.

If Elaine didn't know Estella, she would've thought nothing was wrong. But they were sisters after all and she knew her sister very well. She was still smirking, looking at her and thinking what to say. No, better they were somewhere more… _secluded_ for the actual conversation.

"You were gone for some time so," Estella rolled her eyes midsentence, already knowing the end of it and started walking away. "So mother sent me to look for you." Elaine frowned at such behavior and followed her.

"Of course she did." Estella muttered under her breath.

"Well, we were worried." Elaine tried to explain. "You just left with an awful excuse, to be honest."

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm not as intelligent as you, Elaine!" Estella shouted, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"E-excuse me?" the younger sister was caught off guard.

"You say you're so tired being in the center of attention, but what do you do?! You create chaos everywhere you go and attract all the attention always! Others cannot come to the fore because of you! The spotlight is always on you!" Estella screamed and shouted all her frustration and jealousy out while Elaine tried to shush her. "Don't you shush me, you little brat, you will hear me out—"

"Yes, but not here—"

"I play by the rules, I do everything they say and you're still the perfect daughter! I'm sick of it, Elaine! I'm sick of being in your shadow!" she was going hysterical now.

Elaine stood there like her sister slapped her in the face. She did, in fact, but with words. Estella was still shouting something, but she muted her out completely. She looked around and realized they were attracting unnecessary attention. She grabbed Estella by her upper-arms and got in her sister's face.

"Whaa—"

"Oh, Estella, shut up!" she spat. "Look around you." she shook her. "You are the main attraction now. Is this the attention you want? You want people to talk that you're crazy?" she looked her sister up and down in disgust. "Bloody hell, look at you." she gripped her arm and pulled her with her.

"Where are we going?" Estella cried.

"To your room."

"No, I can't face Edward anymore." she tried to break away while Elaine tried to hold her still.

"Edward's not there."

"How do you know?" she was still wiggling.

"Because," Elaine said through gritted teeth and her grip tightened, obviously hurting Estella since she calmed down. "I was there before I came here. He told me where I can find you."

"So you know?" Estella said, staring at the floor, too proud to meet Elaine's eyes.

"I know." she confirmed.

Elaine opened the door of Estella's suite and pushed her inside. Betty immediately ran into the room when she heard the door open, but Elaine dismissed her for the evening in Estella's name and now they were completely alone.

"Sit." she demanded, nodding at one of the plush armchairs they had. Estella obeyed. Elaine took a deep breath before she started talking.

"You now listen to me, sister." She leaned her hands on the coffee table and pierced through her sister with her eyes, trying to get her attention. When Estella finally looked back at her, she seemed more collected even though her eyes were still teary and she was sobbing now and then. Knowing her sister, Elaine knew there was more going on inside her head and they were just warming up.

"I didn't know you were feeling that way," she started and Estella rolled her eyes, but she decided to ignore it and just go on. "You never showed any indications." Estella was still making faces and Elaine was losing her patience. "But if it's for your consolation, you were the main attraction on this voyage since day one." she folded her arms across her chest.

"I've learned from the best." Estella mockingly smiled.

"Well, you are a bad student." Elaine shot back.

Estella's whole face changed.

"You were doing it subtly in the beginning, but then you slipped." Elaine raised a finger to point it out even more.

"But did you slip, Elaine?" the other sister questioned. Elaine looked at her, not really following. "Or perhaps, you didn't slip alone?" Estella confidently went on.

Elaine's mouth hung open. This was only confirming her previous thoughts.

"You little…" she whispered while Estella chuckled as if she wanted to say 'finally'.

"It wasn't Charles, it was you. You reported Harold to the captain."

"Of course I did, Elaine." she spread her arms.

"Why? Why couldn't he report it himself? Why he needed you?"

"You see, Elaine, we needed neutral ground."

"What?!" she spat, trying not to burst out laughing. "Have you said that out loud before? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"Please don't insult my intelligence and let me finish." Elaine rolled her eyes, but remained silent. "Therefore, if I did it that clears a path for me and Charles."

"How does that clear the path for you and Charles if you saw me leaving Harold's cabin?" she frowned.

"Ah, of course. I couldn't say I have the evidence of my own eyes, but I had this… if you allow me?" she motioned to stand up.

Elaine nodded her head still frowning. Estella rose up, walked to her drawer and pulled something out. Elaine's curious gaze followed her all the way until she presented the item before her on the table. She almost chocked on her spit. It was that note Harold had given her when he joined them for dinner.

"You were snooping around my room," she wasn't sure she was asking or saying. "You were snooping around my room!"

"I needed something to back my story up." Estella explained in her innocent voice. "But yeah, Charles did help saying he saw you leaving Harold's cabin. But the report was mainly made by me. See, then all the attention would be on Harold and—"

Elaine didn't hear her any more, she was beyond herself.

"How could you? Who gave you the right?!" she snapped.

"Excuse me?"

"Have you got no shame?! If not for anyone else, at least for yourself?! You went into the affair with a married man!"

"He isn't married."

Elaine smiled in agony. "Well of course he would have taken his wedding ring off when he was with you!"

"Shut up! You're making this up! You just can't believe you're in the wrong this time." Estella couldn't accept the truth.

The younger one knelt before the older one. "Oh, but no, no, dear sister," Elaine almost cried how even after all she couldn't be mad at her sister. Instead, she was very sorry for her. "You… You called off your engagement and wedding for something that could never last! You lost a man that truly loves you and for what?! Because you were hungry for attention?!" she placed a hand over Estella's, trying to reach through her, but Estella kept avoiding her gaze. Finally, she stood up. "Well, you got it." she was now standing fully before her sister. "All eyes were on you on this trip. I hope you're happy."

She turned to leave, but before she closed the door behind her she turned around once more.

"Remember when you said how I'll either make or break this family?" that seemed to catch Estella's attention for she quickly glanced at her young sister. "Well, congratulations. You broke it before me. I can only make it from here." she said and closed the door.

Only when she found herself alone in the hall Elaine realized how hard she was feeling. Almost the same after her encounter with Harold yesterday, only worse. This was her sister, her family, her blood. She needed to take deep breaths in and out to calm herself. Her face and neck were burning hot. She stepped outside to catch some fresh night air. It was late already and there were not many people outside. Thereby, it was much colder than the previous nights.

Elaine walked up to the railing and gripped it almost that hard that her knuckles turned white. She stared at the still water thinking. She never felt so betrayed. Better yet, she couldn't believe her own sister could betray her like that. She looked up at the starless sky.

Huh, she smirked, not a single one.

Then all of a sudden felt vibrations through the metal.

Then slight tremor.

Soon after the whole ship was shaking, followed with growling and creaking sounds. Elaine didn't know should she back off or hold on tighter onto the railing.

Suddenly that… event was over. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She didn't think much of it. Something might've happened in the engine room and it wasn't her concern. But it might've been too soon.

To her astonishment, there was a large object moving towards her from her left. She screamed in surprised and jumped back realizing how close it was. Her back was pressed against the wall while she watched in horror as the iceberg had passed by. She blinked a few tears that remained in her eyes away.

Nothing had happened in the engine room.

Titanic had struck an iceberg.

**Author's Note: **_Hello, lovelies! I hope you're all well and safe in the comfort of your home. I'm glad to see a few of you enjoying my story so I'm giving you this chapter as a Christmas present! Leave me your thoughts and I'll see you soon! Merry Christmas and happy holidays! :*_


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